My own precious stone
by Grumpydoodles
Summary: A lone huntress roams the wilds for treasures and hunting trophies. The last thing she expected was to be disturbed and asked to go on an adventure with a bunch of strangers. How will she fare with the likes of Thorin and his company? Goodness knows there will be dominance issues. Rated M to play it safe. Future Thorin x OC
1. Under the stars

**My own precious stone.**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer: I do not own "The Hobbit" or "The Lord Of The Rings" That honour belongs to J. R. R. Tolkien. I only own my poor long suffering OC that finds herself being used in a lot of fandoms : Sorry Savan but i do this because I love you. I also own the other OCs that are mentioned in this story.**

** I apologise in advance for any grammatical and spelling errors that may be in this. I tend to miss some no matter how many times I look over my work. It really does not help that I can't read black on white very well, my eyes go crazy.**

_This is a short chapter, the rest will be longer and have more going on in it. I'm trying to avoid the typical "Marry sue" thing as it has always been a pet peeve of mine. My characters are usually the types to throw punches in a slap fight. Eventual Thorin/OC pairing. May take a while to get there knowing my character like I do. _

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><p><strong><span>Chapter 1 <span>**

Under the stars

Deep within the woodlands was a cave tucked away and hidden from view. Cloaked by trees and hanging moss, it was well out of sight for those who did not know it was there. Only the keenest of eyes or the clumsiest of feet could find it. The cave entrance was not that big, a large bear would struggle to get inside it. A small stream trickled down the out side of the cave and collected into a small pool that fed another stream. The water was fresh and clean, its sound was quiet and added to the natural ambience of the woodlands, it was very peaceful place. It was the perfect home for something or someone small.

Who would stop to think that inside was something that would send grown men running back to their towns, should they be curious enough to venture inside?

The night was cool and the sky clear, a perfect night for watching the stars and collecting the rays of the moon. On top of the small rocky cave sat a shadowy figure, hood up and resting their back against another large rock. Sat in silence the figure stayed still for over three hours before pulling down the once purple and gold hood of the coat. The moonlight revealed the face of a woman in her prime, pale skin with hard to see scars, sharp features and steel blue eyes that sparkled when the moon and starlight hit them just right. Her wavy, raven black hair fell just above her breasts and moved with the gentle breeze. Her hair was thick and slightly matted from living in the wild and it looked coarse to the touch. The dark skin around her eyes echoed her near constant fatigued state. Almost every night was met with minimal sleep for a variant of reasons.

The woman leaned forwards and smiled as she looked at her best friend laying down in front of her.

"Come dearest Rohdain, you have had more than enough moonlight for tonight, don't you think?"

Reaching out with one hand she grabbed Rohdain and stood with him in a proud stance above her home. To a stray passer by lost in the wild it would have been an unnerving sight, a woman about 5 foot and 6 inches of height, athletically built but still had larger than average breasts and wide hips. A mighty war axe in one hand she smirked into the darkness. The war axe was almost as tall as she and gleamed proudly in the light. Her long coat danced in the breeze in the same way her hair did. Her coat looked old but not ruined. It was dark purple and had faded gold patterns along the sleeves and edges. The patterns were dwarven in design, the whole coat had the style and texture of dwarven attire. The long coat was lined with a very thick black fur. Under it was her light armour made from leather which she crafted herself.

She looked at the axe and yawned.

"Time to catch what sleep I can for tonight. It wont be long until the morning comes and the time to hunt comes with it." She hopped down from her basking spot and slid into her cave.

The inside of the cave wasn't overly large but was a fairly open space. To the right of the cave was a bedding pile made up from various animal furs. By it sat a bowl of clean water and another bowl with a couple strips of dried meat and fresh herbs. At the foot of the bedding pile was her heavy armour with various scratches and dents. Beside that was a dwarven bow and a quiver full of dwarven arrows. Beside that there was a dwarven great sword, a heavy metal shield and two dwarven daggers.

The other side of the cave looked far less homely. Claws, horns and a range of hides were tacked up to the wall. On the ground in the corner was a neat display of skulls of many different species, ranging from small and delicate to large and sturdy. Beside the skulls laid a pile of various weapons from different owners. Bows, swords, axes, hammers and anything that her targets could use as weapons. This was the side of the cave dedicated to her hoard of hunting trophies. This young woman was certainly a huntress in prime.

She placed her axe, Rohdain, against the wall by the bed and proceeded to free herself from her clothes. Once unclothed she stepped into bed and snuggled into the furs that kept away the cold and the hardness of the ground. It didn't take long before she slipped into the world of dreams and nightmares.

She bolted awake just four hours later soaked in sweat, she sat there for a few minutes shaking with adrenalin from a nightmare until the morning air started to bite at her exposed chest and arms bringing her back to the present. Not wanting to dwell on memories past, she stood up from the bed and slipped out of the cave. The curtain of moss over the entrance was cool and ticklish against her skin.

It was looking to be a nice day, the sun bathing everything in a yellow glow and warming up her pale and scared skin. She sighed contently as the calming ambience of the woods soothed her. She stepped into the small pool of fresh running water to clean herself of last night's nightmare. The sun may have been warm but the water was certainly cold. The temperature of the water didn't inspire her to stay in it longer than she needed to.

After quickly getting dressed into her light armour and long coat she went outside and looked for her other best friend. She found him in the small clearing, on the other side of the stream, nibbling away at the ground.

"Hey there laddy, how did you sleep last night?" She bent down and pat her mighty war horse on the snout with great affection.

The beast neighed and nodded at her, sending it's long, thick, white and black mane flying around it's face. The war horse was large and muscular, bred for strength and stamina. His coat was black as coal and had eye popping white fluffy tufts around his hooves, he also had a white stripe that went down his face and stopped at his black nose.

The horse stood still as the woman practically had to climb onto his back. She made it look easy despite being fairly short and carrying a large battle axe and a bow complete with a full quiver attached to her back.

"Okay Fergus, let's get going. Those dry meat strips can only keep me full for so long, got to get more meat to keep up my strength, don't you think?" She gently pat the base of his neck and set off for her next hunt.

Despite the huntress being extremely watchful to what's going on around her, she some how missed the footsteps of some one approaching her.

"Ho there Miss Savanna, Dear lady of the wild." Called a tall man clad in grey.

She jumped and whirled around with Rohdain held out in an aggressive manner.

"Who are you?! Wait, hold on. Gandalf?" She was suddenly rendered speechless and relaxed her weapon.

"It's a good morning isn't it? A shame I think, to spend it alone. May I have the honour of your company?" The old wizard smiled warmly at her.

She blinked at him, shocked to see his face again. It had been a long time since she saw him last.

"I..of...of course Gandalf. You must forgive me, I am shocked to see you." Savanna quickly got down from Fergus and let the horse follow her up to where the wizard stood.

"Surprised? I told you that you'll see me again in the future. Here we are, in the future and in the middle of the woods no less." He puffed on his pipe and created a smoke ring.

"Yes you did, I just didn't expect your company so soon. I'm so used to the silence of being around no one that I didn't expect it to change yet." She smiled and visibly relaxed.

"So, you're here to settle my debt are you?" She cocked her brow, it was the only thing she could think of.

"It is true that I have come to you for help for myself and friends of mine with something of great importance. I have also come to give you the chance to do something that has been dwelling on your mind for quite some time now." He smiled warmly at her again and sat down on a near by tree stump.

Savanna was unsure what he believed was on her mind. She wanted a lot of things, mostly hunting trophies. She stood using Rohdain as support. Typically she hated to be around people but this old friendly wizard was one of the exceptions. She could speak to him as freely as she spoke to Fergus and Rohdain.

"Am I to guess? You know I detest such games, be blunt if you could." She said without much enthusiasm causing Gandalf to chuckle.

"Very well old friend. I will tell you some of the information now but I will have to tell you the rest later, should you choose to accept" He took in a breath to get started with the request, he was fully confident that she would help despite the lack of detail. She did after all have a lust for travelling and adventuring in general, though it was always alone. She did also owe him and he knew she was honourable when it came to promises and vows, plus her curiosity would make her come to the meeting, he was sure of it.

"I am here to ask if you will partake in a quest. It is of a great deal of importance and your help will be greatly appreciated. I can only reveal to you that it is for the benefit of a company of dwarves and we will be gone for quite some time. Plus you can add to your hoard with the best prize you can possibly imagine." He watched one of her pointed brows twitch, the mention of dwarves and trophies would always snatch her attention.

"Dwarves and a grand prize you say? This is no quest of men? It already sounds appealing, go on and tell me more Gandalf."

He chuckled as he stood back up and went over to her to pat her strong shoulder gently.

"I'm afraid I can't reveal more now. Should you want to know more, meet us in Bag End, it's a hobbit hole in Hobbiton. It will be the marked door. I know your keen eyes will not miss it Savan." He turned and started to walk off without her.

"I must go and meet up with some fellows, they will be lost without me. I'm sure I will see you tomorrow night my dear. Good hunting."

That was still too vague for her liking and she knew that it was his bait on the hook. She watched him leave and was tempted to shout out about what mark to look for however she knew that Gandalf, being the man he is, would make it clear enough. She turned around and pat Fergus.

"Tomorrow night is it? Come, let's get some dinner and make way to Hobbiton. We have a good day of travelling to do. You're up for an adventure, aren't ya lad?" She sat herself on his saddle and he neighed cheerfully.

Fergus knew that a group adventure meant more horses, that way he could show off and prove himself better than the others. The warhorse has clearly been in her care long enough to become like her. Fergus was highly intelligent, Savanna could see it in him when he was a colt and knew that he had to be her adventuring companion.

They spent the rest of the morning hunting game and returning back to the cave so Savanna could pack her things into a secure sack. She took the bedding, the bow, sword, shield, daggers and Rohdain. She wanted to take the heavy armour but after thinking long and hard over it, she realised that for a long journey it will probably end up being more of a hindrance than a help. She decided to gather up leaves and keep the armour out of site by burying it.

Leaving her clearing she looked back nervously, unwilling to leave her hoard completely unguarded for so long.

"It's going to be fine, no one will find such a small place. No one will find it. No one will find it."

These words were repeated for several minutes. True her hoard consisted of bones, claws, horns, hides and weapons but it was hers. She worked hard for it, almost died several times for it in fact. Savanna didn't know why she collected such things. It was simply what she longed to do. Go out and hunt monsters and cherry pick what bounty she would go after, then collect their armour and weaponry as a display of a successful huntress who shouldn't be taken lightly.

At least she felt better for taking all of her gold coins so they would be safe from unwanted guests. Hopefully the sight of body parts would ward off any intruders should they find it. The thought of a mysterious new trophy to trump all the others put her at ease and filled her anticipation. What could be? She laughed at herself when she thought it could be a unicorns horn but she that was ridiculous.

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><p><em> That's all there is for now I'm afraid. I hope it wasn't awful to read, it has been YEARS since I last wrote anything meant for reading by others. I'll post the second chapter sooner rather than later. Reviews are welcome. As someone who doesn't write much, i wont spit at crits. <em>


	2. Bumps on the road

Thanks for the interest so far :D

**I do not own anything of the "Lord of the Rings" franchise. I only own my OCs.**

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><p>Savanna and Fergus had travelled several leagues during the rest of the day and it had started to get dark. The time she spent on hoof was spent talking absent-mindedly to herself, Rohdain and Fergus. She knew she would soon reach a more populated area and her chatter would have to become less and less to avoid being over heard by the likes of rogues.<p>

"Time to find a clearing lad. I know you're hungry and thirsty. Hopefully a stream is near by, we could both use a drink. I don't know why I didn't refill my flask this morning." She mentally scolded herself for forgetting something so simple and did every time they went out for a small venture. Perhaps it was the excitement of taking part in something big that made her neglect it.

Fergus spotted a clearing and went for it, Savan was used to him occasionally taking control and allowed him to do so. He had keen eyes and ears and never walked them into a trap. She was certainly proud and happy to have chosen him above all the others all those years ago. There were times when her mind would be else where, or she would nap in the saddle, and he would carry on along the road without guidance. As he made his way through the trees Savan put three braids into his mane, sadly she had no beads to secure them with and they slowly fell out of place again.

She let out a quiet sigh and got down when he stopped in the middle of the small clearing. It was big enough for a sleeping space for them both and a fire but small enough not to feel completely exposed. Savan wasted no time in setting up a small fire pit and laying out her furs. This would the be the first night of many that she will have to sleep with some clothes on. A good thing she had a couple sets with her.

Fergus suddenly stomped one of his front hooves alerting Savan to something approaching. Kicking into action she grabbed Rohdain and stood ready to fight.

"Halt! Proceed no further stranger!" She raised her voice and her words sounded sharp at the small figure approaching.

From what she could see the shadow stopped coming towards the clearing and raised its hands up to chest height.

"I mean no harm lass, I'm looking for a clearing tonight." The voice was deep but not overly threatening.

Savan's eyes adjusted more to the fading light and could make out more of the fellow in front of her. He was a dwarf, that was as clear as day. He was bold for the most part and built like a fort. She eyed his axes and then his knuckle dusters wearily. Now those, were threatening.

_A warrior dwarf. What is he doing out and about alone? _She thought to herself.

"This one is taken and it isn't big enough for another. You will have to continue your search down the road master dwarf."

"My apologise lass. I will be moving on now." He lowered his arms and turned back to the way he came.

She relaxed when his foot steps went out of her hearing range and turned back to the fire pit to light it. The next hour and a half went by peacefully and she cooked and ate the rabbit she caught earlier that morning. The peace was interrupted as Fergus alerted her to another intruder.

_For pity sake._

Again she get ready to confront whomever this was with Rohdain in hand and Fergus standing beside her making himself look as large as possible.

"Halt! Come no closer stranger!" As soon as she spoke the figure stood still and like the last, raised its hands up.

"Pardon me lass, I was just looking for spot to settle for the night." The voice of this one was a lot more soft that the last one, it sounded like age was starting to soften his tone.

She could see right away that this was no warrior dwarf and didn't give off a threatening aura like the last. He did however have an impressive beard that forked out like a snake's tongue at the end.

_A trader or merchant perhaps? _This was her only conclusion. It was odd to see a warrior dwarf travel alone on the surface but a trader without a cart or a guard, that was even stranger to her. Maybe things have changed since she had been in solitude.

"This spot is too small for a third person. Please continue down the road." She relaxed her hold on Rohdain as she didn't think this character was a clear threat and stood up straight.

"Thank you lass, I didn't mean you any harm." He turned and made his way back to the road but before he was beyond her sight she spoke out to him.

"I warn you master dwarf that you may come across another dwarf. Armed to the teeth that one." The dwarf turned and she could hear the smile in his voice.

"Thank you for the warning. I'll keep my eyes open." With that, he carried on.

After he left she didn't bother to remove bits of armour and decided to go to sleep. Fergus had also settled down and started to doze right next to her. As she slowly drifted in to sleep she couldn't help but wonder if the two dwarves met up with each other or if the smaller dwarf found a spot in between the camps.

No nightmares were had that night, it was more of a disappointing dream. She dreamt that she held a king's crown in her hands and was surrounded by a sea of gold and precious stones. It was the most well crafted thing she ever saw. It felt great in her hands, she loved crowns and this was the best one she ever set eyes on. Too small and well crafted to belong to man, it had to be one of the dwarf kings'. However the gold started to feel hot and began to melt. Before the feeling of pain touched her hands from the molten gold she awoke to rustling from in front of her.

Startled, she grabbed her bow that was in front of her and readied for a shot. She had to squint to focus as the sun was just peeking over the tree tops. Savan could just make out two silhouettes trying to hide behind two trees. She gently nudged Fergus with her right heel and he stood up immediately. As her horse was getting up she took a shot and managed to graze one of the figures on the shoulder, causing him to yell out in pain.

It was a man and so was the other, they both stood and went in for the fight. Fergus leapt forwards and started to kick wildly at the wounded man with his front hooves. Savan quickly switched from the bow to Rohdain and charged at the young slim man that was about to swing at her with his long sword.

Being battle trained she dodged the swing effortlessly and made her own lunge. She swung the axe to slice the offender across the middle, he dodged the main blades of the double bladed axe but was cut with the point in between the two main blades.

He stumbled back in shock. The lad was clearly new to the fighting scene. Savan was not the type to take prisoners, even if they are young and inexperienced in a fight. You don't mess with a dragon and not expect to get burned. She took another powerful swing, in the opposite direction from her last swing, as she stepped forwards. The hit was successful and one of the blades sank deeply into the young man's side. Knowing there was no walking away from such a blow, she removed the axe from his abdomen and went to the other man whilst quickly switching weapons.

The older of the two looked horrified as the screams and sobs of the youngest filled the air. He was bloodied and bruised from Furgus' attacks. He turned away from the horse's powerful and painful blows only to see a flash of metal fly like lightening towards his face. A loud and wet crack suddenly sounded through the trees. The war horse settled but had a couple slices on his front hooves as the old man swung clumsily at him with a broad sword.

With that, the fight was over. The older man was slumped against the tree with a dwarfish dagger planted up to its crossguard in his skull. Savan walked over to him and huffed slightly. She put a foot on the man's chest and with some difficulty, pulled the out the dagger to wipe it clean on the grass.

The young man was still alive and continued to cry in agony for the physical pain and the pain of seeing his partner dead. Savan looked at him showing no signs of emotion. She went up to him and took his sword.

"What did you two think you were doing? Sneaking up to some one like that. Look at where it has gotten you." She asked him seriously. The young man struggled to find the breath and will to talk.

"I...I'm so..sorry. I was do..doing what I was told." He took in another large wheezy breath.

"He...he just wanted...your mo...money." He started to sob loudly again as blood spilled from his mouth.

"I see." That was all she could say. Leaning forwards to the young man she grabbed the sides of his head and with a swift jerk, broke his neck. The sobs stopped immediately. Savan stood up stayed there for several minutes just looking at him. He was a skinny little thing, pale skin and short blonde hair that had been unwashed for goodness knows how long. She turned and looked again at the oldest. He was fat, balding and reeked of stale urine. She wasn't surprised that he wore no wedding band. She came to the conclusion that he dragged in an urchin from the street to teach him how to steal to make life easier for himself. She glanced back to the boy.

_He couldn't even be in his mid teens. What kind of guardian would bring along someone so young to do this? A desperate one with no clue that's who._

True, Savan is a strong believer in the law of the wild, a serious fighter and will fight to the death with anyone but there were times that she would feel bad for it. It was typically with the same case as now, when she kills some one young that had no real idea about the world. Yes she herself started young but if she died it wasn't like she would feel bad about it. She didn't think of herself as a monster but to survive you had to do what you had to do. It's you or them.

Savanna was flawed when it come to being approached by strangers, she would often react violently first and ask questions later. Thankfully it wasn't always the case but it happened enough that she had killed innocent roamers in the past. Her will to survive often out weighed the option for diplomacy.

She sighed heavily and stored away her new trophy weapons, as shoddy as they were. After fastening her things to Furgus' saddle she jumped back after turning towards the road and saw the old looking dwarf staring at her with his flat mace pointed towards the ground.

_What in oblivion?! How long has he been there?_

She went to take Rohdain from her back and he quickly dropped his weapon and displayed submissiveness by raising the palms of his hands up. She stopped her motion and relaxed her harm.

"What are you doing back here master dwarf?"

"I heard fighting and screaming. Thought you were in a spot of bother and that I might have been able to help." She could make out the honesty in his voice but still didn't seem to be all that impressed.

"So you thought you'd help out a defenceless woman did you? And you can drop your hands by the way" He lowered his hands and picked up his mace from the ground.

"I meant no disrespect lass, it's just that I wasn't far away and thought it would be the decent thing to do. Might I know your name?" He smiled at her which caused her to wave dismissively at him.

"Very well. Savanna, at your service and I thank you for your kind thoughts master dwarf." She bowed slightly after telling him her name.

"Balin at yours" His bow was more exaggerated than hers as he splayed out his arms.

"Well, as it seems you have everything under control, I will be on my way. Take care lass." He gave her another friendly smile and nod before making his way back through the trees.

"Take care yourself, there may be more bandits and rogues around." She mentioned to his back.

"I will stay vigilant, you can be sure of that."

Savan turned to Fergus and frowned at the blood stains on his white fluffy hooves.

"Come on, lets look out for a stream. We need to clean up and we still need that drink." Instead of going to the road she led them further into the trees and managed to find a small clean river about an hour later. Taking the time to scout the area to make sure it was free of people, they drank and bathed in peace. This time Savan did not forget to fill up her flask.

After an hour of walking back towards the road she stopped still. On the road in the distance she could make out the figures of dwarves and a tall man. She instantly recognised that man as Gandalf. There must have been about eight dwarves with him. So this little group are the ones she's going to meet up with tonight? _Interesting_. She kept well out of sight and allowed them to clear a lot of ground. Once they were far off into the distance she got onto the track and continued with the journey.

Savan took a pouch out of the left coat pocket, every now and then she would pluck out some berries and eat them. In the pocket on her right she had two silver hair combs. One of the the combs was for a woman, it was highly detailed and had sapphires and diamonds in the handle. The other was for a male and only had one sapphire with a ring of diamonds surrounding it. The two combs looked like there were dwarfish, just like her other items. As her hair was still wet she spent a lot of time combing through it all, with the female comb, trying to get out the many knots and tangles. Fergus was such an easy horse to ride she had no difficulty in multitasking riding with self grooming.

Enjoying the ride she didn't realise how quickly the time and distance passed. There was no one else to be seen on the journey and she was grateful for it. It was already dark and easily made out Hobbiton over the hills.

"Here we are Fergus. The top spot for hobbit spotting. Lets take our time in finding the correct door, I want them to be more settled before I go in." She slid off the saddle and led him by the reins like a rope. After wondering around for what felt like a lot longer than she should have, she found it but instead of going in she sat on a near by bench out of sight and waited a little longer.

Rohdain was perched upright against the bench next to her. She sat in silence watching the stars glisten and every now and then, watched shadows from different windows from different holes. She also kept seeing the same short person walking around seemingly lost. Not the type to get involved she did nothing to help and made sure she and Fergus were still hard to see. However he seemed to see the door he wanted and went to knock on it with a heavy fist. He was outside the door she needed to go to.

From over her shoulder she watched him enter the home and dump his coat on someone. Then the door closed and all was silent again. She waited another five minutes before going up to the door herself, leaving Fergus behind to relax on the hills.

Meanwhile Gandalf was actually starting to worry. Even Thorin was here and she hadn't shown herself yet. He was sure that she would come. He had just finished arguing with Thorin to allow Bilbo the chance to become the burglar they needed and she still was not there.

Thumping soon echoed through the hole and every one of the dwarves looked at each other extremely confused.

"Tell whoever it is that you are not accepting any guests." The leader of the company directed at Bilbo.

"Don't worry Bilbo, I'll answer it." Gandalf said as he used his staff to hoist himself up from his seat. The hobbit then stood back with the dwarves feeling more than a little awkward.

Everyone was silent, wanting to know who it was and why they would be calling so late into the night.

"Ah, good evening my dear!" He spoke loudly and they all heard him. The dwarves all looked at each other questioningly and Thorin frowned deeply. Hopefully the wizard will politely tell her to go else where.

"You have no idea how relieved I am to see you here. You actually had me worried, come in and meet the company." He stepped aside and took her coat.

"I thought i'd give everyone time to settle in before I broke the mood." She glanced into the room with all the dwarves, one of which was glaring daggers at her.

"This is what I mean by spoiling the mood Gandalf." She gestured to the dwarf in blue causing him to stand up bolt right and march over to them.

"Gandalf, what is the meaning of this?! Why have you let a woman into our meeting?" He gestured angrily at her with a finger.

She responded by leaning over him.

"Because master dwarf, he invited me to come yesterday morning. That's why" She practically spat the words at him which was only making him more irate.

"I did not ask you!" He shouted at her and she narrowed her eyes at him in response.

Gandalf stepped between them to explain before a fight could break out. It hasn't even been one minute and already they started to show their claws.

"Thorin, this is an old friend of mine. Her name is Savanna and I believe she will be of more help to us than you might believe."

"And how do you expect me to believe that? What can she have to offer. Asking me to accept Bilbo is one thing but a woman? I don't think so." He lowered his hand and straightened up as much as he could.

Savan wanted to snap at the statement but the old wizard replied before she could open her mouth and lash out with her sharp tongue.

"This woman is a true lady of the wilds. Not only is she street smart, agile and has a great knowledge of the world beyond comfort, she is a warrior and tough in battle. Truly a sight to behold. I also believe she will be a great tool in killing the beast." His tone was serious but the last three words were hushed.

Balin popped his head past the wall to see what was going on, he was sure he heard that voice just that morning. He was pleasantly surprised to see the woman from the camp in the same place as them now. He nudged Dwalin to get him to look around also. He saw her and looked astonished, he then looked back at Balin and nodded. They both went up to where the three stood.

"Evening lass" Dwalin nodded to her. Savan was shocked to see these two again but she nodded in return.

"Good evening Savanna, I see you haven't gotten into any more trouble?" He nodded to her with his greeting and smiled warmly at her. She smiled right back at him to show she could be perfectly polite to those who deserved it.

"Good evening to you Balin. The rest of my trip was a lot less exciting than this morning." She reached to her back and grabbed Rohdain to lean against him.

Thorin wasn't sure what to make of the greeting between her and the brothers. He turned around to question them.

"You know this woman? How?" He looked between them both. Dwalin answered first.

"Bumped into her last night while looking for a resting spot. She soon told me to move on and I did." He looked at his brother.

"Same scenario only we met twice. After camping in a clearing in a spot close to her own, I awoke to the sound of an angry horse and shouting men. Went to her camp only to witness her dispatch of the two would be thieves before I had a chance to so much as step into the fray." He looked at her with an impressed look.

"When I arrived and greeted Dwalin we both spoke about our accidental meetings with her." Balin added now watching Thorin for his reaction.

"It sounded like an impressive fight. Over before it started I heard." Dwalin liked the sound of her story and wanted to show it.

Gandalf smiled knowing this will help in swaying the stubborn dwarf that stood next to him into allowing her to come.

He eyed her wearily and she eyed him in return.

"How did you dispatch these thieves?" He asked he with a scowl.

"Practically sliced one of them in half and gave the other one a third eye socket" She smirked at her answer at first but then remembered the tinge of guilt for the younger lad.

"I did what I had to. Just as I do every single day to get by. I am no simple house wife master dwarf. That I can promise you."

"What are you then? Are you a bandit? A Thief? A sell sword?" He got up close to her again demanding an answer. Savan placed a hand on her hip while still using Rohdain as support.

"I am an adventurer. I look for action, I look for trophies and I take them when I find them. I have a hunting trophy hoard that will demonstrate to you just how successful I am."

Thorin frowned at this.

"So you kill and take their treasure? Sounds like a bandit to me."

"If you call weapons treasure, then sure I guess I am a bandit. If however you listen, you will know that I am an adventurer with a need to collect weapons and armour" Her tone was hard but quiet at the same time.

"What about their gold? Do you take that?" His tone was equal to hers and she smirked at him.

"Only if I know i'm going to town later."

Gandalf coughed to stop the questioning before things got out of hand.

"Might I suggest we all sit back down and finish this quietly?" He gave Savan time enough to put Rohdain against the living room wall before putting his arm on her shoulder, leading her to the dinning room.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce to you all, Miss Savanna. She is a skilled warrior of the wilds." Gandalf introduced her, smiling as he did so.

"And Savanna my dear, allow me to introduce you to Fili, Kili, Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Ori, Gloin and Oin. You have already met Balin and his brother Dwalin. This Savanna is the leader of the company, Thorin Oakenshield." Every dwarf accept Thorin nodded and smiled at her when their names were mentioned.

"And who is this?" She smiled at the hobbit next to her.

"Oh hello, i'm Bilbo Baggins. It's nice to met you Savanna" He gave her a wide smile and shook her hand when she offered it.

"A pleasure to met you too Master Baggins and please, call me Savan. That goes for all of you" She looked around the table while mentally reminding herself of everyone's names repeatedly.

"Right then Gandalf, what am I here for exactly?" Savan asked with arms crossed. She thought she heard Thorin mutter something under his breath but decided to ignore it.

Bilbo spoke up first.

"They mentioned something about a quest just before you knocked on the door." He fondled his top wanting the dwarves or Gandalf to explain in more detail as he also had no idea what was going on.

They all turned back to the map that was spread out in front of them and Gandalf spoke while pointing to the location.

"Far to the East, over ranges, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak." Bilbo looked to the map and read it aloud.

"The lonely mountain."

"Aye, Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time." Gloin added after Bilbo had finished.

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold: When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

Savan looked interested and wondered what the beast was. She raised her hopes as the promise of the ultimate trophy and the promise of achieving something that has racked her mind for so long, came forward from her memory. Was this the beast she longed to slay?

Bilbo looked very uneasy at the mention.

"What beast?" The hobbit asked nervously. Bofur responded first and didn't hesitate to scare him.

"Well that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire-breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat hooks, extremely fond of precious metals..."

"Yes, I know what a dragon is."

_By the Gods, yes! Revenge and a set of Wyvern teeth will be a sweet victory!_

This was all she needed to know. Despite her instant distaste in their leader she knew she needed to go with them and help lay a claim to the beast's life. She slammed her hands down on the map and startled everyone. Her long curly black hair fell like curtains as she bent over.

"Count me in." Her voice was thick with seriousness and her eyes were cold and determined. Everyone looked at her surprised that anyone would be so keen on the idea of Smaug. Balin and Dwalin soon looked pleased at her outburst at least.

"I'm not afraid! I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the Dwarfish iron right up his jacksie." Ori shouted out with excitement. Savan smirked at him and some of the group started to shout and cheer. Dori soon dragged Ori back down to his seat.

Balin choose to bring some common sense back to the gathering. Causing Savan to stand up straight again.

"The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest." The rest of the dwarves were up and shouting again.

"What did he say?" Oin objected, checking that his hearing trumpet was positioned correctly. Fili stood from his seat and spoke up.

"We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us, to the last dwarf!" His brother joined in with him.

"And you forget, we have a wizard in our company, Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time."

Kili's statement almost stunned the old wizard.

"Oh, well, now I..I wouldn't say that-" He stuttered. Savan liked it, it was nice to see someone who was so sure of themselves trip over like that. Dori joined in with the questioning.

"How many then?"

"How many what?"

"Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, gives a number!" He demanded.

Gandalf literally chocked on his pipe causing the dwarves to start shouting and causing a headache.

"Shazara!" Savan jumped, startled by Thorin's cry for silence.

"If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look east to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? _Du Bekâr! Du Bekâr!_" All the dwarves cheered when he had finished.

"You forget, the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain." Suddenly everyone fell silent. The wind had been blown out from their sails.

"That my dear Balin is not entirely true." Gandalf took out of his pocket what looked like a key. Thorin looked at it in shock and awe.

"How came you by this?" He question was surprisingly silent.

Savan, had heard what she needed to and decided to go outside while they covered the rest of the details. No one seemed to notice her leave the dinning room as she left the Hobbit hole with Rohdain now in hand and coat back on. She knew there would be plenty of time on the road to fish for any information she'll miss for the time being. She placed the axe against the wall but made sure that it got a good amount of moonlight. The night outside was quiet and peaceful, she could see Fergus on the hill not too far away eating at the grass. After only a few minutes of being sat down she heard a loud thump.

_Someone has just kissed the floor. I wonder if there is a punch up going on in there._

She didn't know how much time she spent alone outside but when she awoke after a light nap she could make out singing from indoors. It was beautiful and deep, most dwarfish music was good to listen too. Savan poked her head around the window and saw everyone accept Bilbo in the living room, they were all singing by now and she was a little surprised to see Thorin leading it. She turned back before anyone noticed her looking but she didn't realise that it was already too late for that.

A couple more minutes passed before she heard the door and the sound of soft footsteps. She didn't care to look to see who it was and continued to watch the stars. Savan was dismayed to hear Thorin's voice.

"You should think your decision to come with us through a little harder. What could you know of taking part in such an undertaking?" Savan, not wanting to take this sitting down, stood from the bench with her arms crossed.

"You'd be better off here with the hobbit. You two stand no chance against the dragon, should you even make the journey. The wilds are no place for gentle-folk."

Savan was completely taken back, her expressions quickly switching from shock to rage. She stood right up to and tried to stand over him but she was just a measly three inches taller. Her eyes were ice cold narrow slits as she stood almost nose to nose with the dwarf.

"Listen here dwarf. I may be a female but I am no stranger to the wilds. I have spent the majority of my life in it! Make no mistake Oakenshield, I can look after myself and I can take down many of the big nasties in this world." Perhaps if she knew just who exactly he was, she wouldn't have done it. Years a living alone in the wild meant she wasn't very well educated on royalty or anything not related to survival.

His eyes narrowed to match her own and engaged her in a silent battle of will power. They kept this up for a couple of minutes and none of them blinked, only to be interrupted by Balin. Savan looked away first, not wanting to be rude to the dwarf she was the most familiar with. Thorin took this as a small victory but said nothing as he too looked at Balin. The older looking dwarf smiled at them both and handed Savan a piece of rolled up parchment.

"I'll give this to you lass. Take the time to read it in full and i'll await your answer in the morning. Rest well." He nodded at her and then to Thorin to wrap up his business outside. Thorin then turned back to her and glared.

"Make sure you are up before the dawn should you still want to join us. You will be left behind if you do not wake in time." He turned around and went back indoors saying nothing else to her.

_Tosser _

Fergus watched their interaction and snorted when the man with the black beard and hair went indoors. He went up to Savanna and bumped her back with his nose.

"Time to catch some rest lad. We have an early morning." She stroked his face gently and pecked him on the top of the snout before grabbing Rohdain and going back indoors to sleep.

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><p>Thanks for reading guys. Thanks again for all the follows and favourites so soon after posting just one chapter!<p> 


	3. a little gambling

Sorry for the longer wait. I hope you enjoy the new chapter. I also hope to make the next chapter longer and update it sooner.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with "The Hobbit" & "The Lord Of The Rings" franchise. I only own my OCs that will appear in the story.

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><p>Savanna awoke the next morning with a crick in her neck, she had fallen asleep against the fire place after reading through and signing the contract. There were a lot of terms and conditions to read through and she struggled with it. What should have taken someone ten minutes to read it took her almost half an hour. This was the first time she genuinely regretted not being well educated with written words, she could read but it was slow and painful. Wild living meant that there wasn't exactly a good selection of scrolls or books to practice with.<p>

She stood up and stretched out her arms and back. The smell of cooking food hit her and her stomach gurgled loudly. Unlike the dwarves she did not get to eat the night before and was starting to hurt from it. Savanna could go longer without food than most humans but she still needed something. While she could survive with minimal food it didn't mean that she wanted to. The hunter come explorer had a very healthy appetite and had no shame in cramming food into her mouth, another bad trait gained from her life style.

She strode into the dining room and saw Bombur laying a few plates, one of which was already filled with food, again her stomach noisily demanded substance. Bombur looked over at her when he heard her stomach and smiled before pushing the fully loaded plate over to her.

"For you" His words were quiet and shy, Savan had almost missed them.

"Thank you, uh..erm...Bofur" Her answer was awkward as she tried hard to remember which dwarf this was. Sitting down she dragged the plate closer to her and plucked the knife and fork at her place. The large dwarf in question chuckled quietly in amusement.

"I'm Bombur." He cheerfully corrected her.

"I'll remember that for the future." She grinned before shovelling mounds of mash potatoes and pig meat into her mouth merrily. I good meal meant a good mood, for the time being at least.

The large dwarf took a moment to take in her appearance now that there wasn't a meeting in progress.

His first observation was her hair, as a dwarf it was the thing that they liked to look at most. He admired how dark, long and curly it was. There were small curls, tight curls, large and loose curls and there were several ringlets that draped either side of her face to frame it perfectly.

Her face was oblong in basic shape but everything about her features seemed pointy. Her eyes were of likeness to a cat, open yet pointed in the corners to exaggerate her shape. She had steel blue irises, yesterday he thought they were ice blue but this morning they seemed a little deeper. He figured that they changed ever so slightly with her mood.

Looking down her face slightly he observed her nose, to him and other dwarves it seemed small but to man he assumed it to be average.

Savanna's lips looked plump in the middle but soon narrowed out into points. They were a natural dark colour, her dark lips with the dark tired patches around her eyes made her look very moody. Her small chin helped in making her face seem pointed. Bombur could not see her ears through the mass of hair and assumed that they would be of average size for a human. He could also pick out the faint scars on her face. None of them were big but there were lots of small, old slash marks here and there.

He looked away after quickly taking in the visual details to her face and carried on with preparing food or rather, what was left of it.

"Bombur?" She suddenly spoke up after swallowing another mouthful of meat and mash.

"hm?" He turned back around to talk to her.

"What's the deal with the hobbit? What is he for?"

"We need a burglar. Gandalf says he would be a good choice." Savanna thought about it for a moment and shrugged.

"I guess that makes sense, with them being small and soft footed. What weapons does he fight with? I am yet to spy so much as a letter opener in here." The last statement caused Bombur to quietly chuckle.

"Um...Conkers." He grinned in response and then turned to carry on with what he was doing. Savanna sat there stunned. As she sat there thinking her hand was still raised with the fully loaded fork.

_No weapon skills at all? Are they serious? Is Gandalf going senile?! How can anyone in their right mind think that someone so lacking in any weapon skill can survive? This is outrageous, no wonder Thorin was already in a bad mood when I came in._

After a few moments of thinking about it, her food fell from the fork and splattered onto the plate bringing her back to the present.

"I see you are up in time" Savanna looked over her shoulder at the sound of a deep voice and saw Thorin walk up to the table. He sat opposite her in the same place he sat the night before.

"Indeed I am. I never wake up late." She had finished her meal in about five minutes of him joining her. Thorin watched her in that time, piling up food onto her fork and eating it quickly. He was surprised at her, she was no lady at the table. It seemed her table manners were just like the dwarves of his company, which he found quite amusing.

"After I have eaten we will go outside to meet with Dwalin. You will spar with him so we can all see what you have to offer." He stated matter of factly.

"Fine." Her answer was short. She wasn't feeling talkative, not to this dwarf anyway. She got out of her chair and took the plate to the sink and washed it.

While she did so she didn't realise she was being watched by Thorin. His dark yet icy blue eyes took in her form now that there was more light. He looked at her leather armour, he had never seen anything styled like it before. The leather was dark brown. The chest plate composed of three sections which would allow for greater flexibility. He noted how each chest section had three metal loops attached with small black leather straps, added for decoration and for a little extra protection. Each section of her armour was accented with a thick black leather welt, along the welts were several metal studs. The sections were cut and shaped to have slight points to them to make the armour look more aggressive. The bracers, pauldrons and greaves were in the same style. She wore black, leggings under her greaves. The outfit was finished with her black leather boots that were line with brown fur.

Under her chest armour was a long black tunic. It had a black trim but it was hardly noticeable. Her well fitting armour accented her body shape enough, for those who looked, to see that she had a sturdy frame. She had broad shoulders for a female but not so broad they looked out of place. Her arms looked thick with muscle under her pauldrons and bracers. The chest plate was not shaped to cup her breasts so it was hard to judge the size of them, one could only assume they were in proportion to the rest of her. Not that Thorin was really looking at that. Her leggings shown off her muscular legs when the light lit them up correctly. It was clear to him now just by looking at her that she really was a survivor of the wilderness. Home comforts did not grant such physique.

Bombur handed Thorin his breakfast making him snap his attention to the plate. He started to eat. Unlike Savanna he took his time and made sure not to over load his fork.

"Need any help Bombur?" she thought she'd do the polite thing and see if she could be useful for five minutes.

"No thank you, I'll be able to manage." Again his voice was quiet and she assumed he wasn't much for talking.

A loud thud sounded in the living room. Thorin leaned over to see what was going on.

"Fili, Kili do not touch that, it's not yours to swing around!" He scolded them briefly before turning back to his breakfast.

Savanna wasn't the type to investigate every strange sound that she heard, it could easily lead to unnecessary trouble, however Thorin's words sent a wave of worry down her spine. She quickly stepped out of the kitchen and into the living room to confirm her worry.

_By the creators NO! _

She was right. Savanna saw the two young dwarves struggling to steady Rohdain against the wall where she had left it.

"What in oblivion do you two think you're doing?! You can't just play around around with someone's precious weapon like that." She verbally scolded them but in all honesty she wanted to bang their skulls together. No one should ever have the nerve to so much as accidentally brush against her weapons, let alone play around with them. She took the long axe off of them and placed it against the wall effortlessly.

"Sorry Miss Savanna. We were curious about it. It's so unusual and I have never seen one of this likeness before." Fili answered for both of them.

"Could you tell us about it or allow us to handle it? It's really heavy too, how do you manage it?" Kili spoke up looking a little too eager. He wanted nothing more than to swing the over sized weapon around and get to know it, they both did.

"No. Not today and not any other day should you touch him again without my permission." Her hands were now on her hips.

"Him? What's his name?" asked Ori who shifted in his sleeping spot on the ground to look at her with curiosity. Savanna looked to where the voice had come from as she didn't realise there were still a couple figures sleepily moving around in their spots. Savanna noted that this one was the cutie-pie of the company.

"Yes, a him and his name is Rohdain. He is a mighty weapon and you should all respect that." She turned back to Fili and Kili.

"I'm going to go and wash now and when I come back and I see so much as one grubby dwarf finger print on him, I will be very angry and you two will be the first to be questioned about it. Is that understood lads?" They both nodded their heads in agreement but both kept their youthful cheeky grins. She was a little down hearted about her first words to them being negative. They were going to cause her mischief in the future, she could feel it in her bones.

Thorin was listening in on them as he finished eating. He huffed as she scolded his nephews like they were little dwarflings. He made a mental note to discipline her about it when they were at next camp, should she pass the test. He went into the living room after she left and sorted through his things to make sure everything was in order.

Just two minutes later Savanna came out of the bathroom and went to put on her coat and grab Rohdain. Thorin also put on his coat and they both went outdoors. The rest of the dwarves knew what was coming and wanted to watch. They spilled out the house surprisingly quickly as if they were afraid of missing even one second of it. Thorin stood beside Dwalin and faced Savanna.

"You are to defeat Dwalin. The rules are simple, no bone breaking or deep wounds. Keep it friendly but don't go easy on each other. I want to see how you handle that axe of yours." Thorin then gave Dwalin a slight nod for the go ahead.

The rest of the company made a circle around them but made sure they had ample sparing room. Fili and Kili stood next to each other looking very excited. Ori, Dori and Nori were together, Ori and Dori looked a little worried for Savanna but Nori looked on with interest. Next to them were Oin and Gloin, the two shrugged at each other questioning how well she would do. Bombur, Bifur, Bofur and Balin completed the dwarf circle. Bofur turned his head to Balin.

"Do you think the lass will be all right? Dwalin is no push over." He asked in a hushed voice. Balin looked at him and winked.

"Aye, she'll be fine. I dare say this wont take long." They both turned back to the centre of the ring.

Savanna stood at the ready, bouncing on her toes waiting to get started.

"Are you ready lass?" Dwalin asked as he held out his two normal sized axes out to his sides ready to attack.

She nodded and made sure her grip on Rohdain was secure but not too tight. Dwalin charged at her and swung with both axes. She easily blocked the attack with Rohdain's handle, she then twirled the axe which sent both his arm's in different directions but he still maintained his weapons. Before he had a chance to attack again she quickly kicked him in the gut and made her own swing. He stumbled out of the way of her attack enough that the blades narrowly missed him. She quickly recovered and moved the handle of the axe to block Dwalin as he took the opportunity to strike. His attack was successfully blocked again and he retreated his weapons before she could twirl them out of his grip. Savanna feigned an attack and he fell for it, leaving his left side unprotected. She swiped the bottom of Rohdain to strike him hard in the side, the attack took a little wind out of him. He stumbled a little and she took the advantage, side swiping again but this time she aimed behind his knees. Dwalin landed with a thump on his back and before he could get up he had the spear like tip pointed at his throat.

The company let out a small cheer for her quick victory. Balin pat Bofur on the shoulder as he was proved right.

"I declare this as a win." She smirked, pleased with how quickly she disarmed him.

"Aye, the win is yours lass." Dwalin replied. She took Rohdain away from his throat and offered a hand to him, he took it and stood up.

"I've seen what I needed to see. If you haven't signed the contract yet I suggest you do so now. We will set off once Gandalf is ready." Thorin spoke up to her. He had to admit he was impressed with how quickly she downed Dwalin, he expected her to do okay but she surpassed his assumption.

The company broke the circle and went on with their morning. Those who hadn't eaten yet went to the dinning room to fill their stomachs.

"I signed it last night." She turned to Balin.

"I left it on the desk, if you wanted to have it back."

"I'll leave it for now, you never know, we might have our burglar sign it before we leave." Balin replied with a grin.

"I doubt it." Her reply surprised him a little.

"You don't think he'll come either then?" He asked a little down heartedly.

"No I don't. Too used to home comforts I say. You can't survive in the wild wielding only...conkers." She glanced at Thorin as he strode past, she could have sworn the corner of his mouth just twitched.

Nori approached the two with a grin.

"Savan, would you like to take part in a bet we've got going?" She raised a brow. It's been a long time since she last gambled like this.

"Is it about the hobbit by chance?"

"It is. Shall I put you in with the others that don't think he'll come?"

"Sure, put me in, I'm game."

"I'm going to assume that you bet he's going to come with us then Balin."

"I like to think there's a little part of him that craves adventure." He smiled at her before walking off to collect his things.

Savanna made her way over to Fergus to greet him. Once he saw her he cantered towards her. She stroked his snout and neck when he was at her side.

"Good morning lad. Looks like we're in the team now. We'll be able to show them a thing or two about our skills." He nodded with enthusiasm and then started to gently mouth at her hand which caused her to laugh.

"Okay I get it. I'll go and see if the hobbit has any carrots left. Now behave." She turned and went back to the hobbit hole. She noticed that most of the dwarves were putting their bags onto a bunch a ponies. Savanna didn't notice the ponies before so she was surprised to see them.

_They must have been tucked away over another hill._

She was soon raiding the larder for a couple carrots. It took her a little while to find them as they had been pushed into the far back corner of the shelving unit. A voice suddenly sounded behind, making her jump slightly.

"Good morning my dear. I see everyone looks to be ready." He gestured out of the window as he spoke.

"All but one." She hummed disapprovingly after her response.

"You're very soft footed this morning Gandalf."

"I dislike the idea of forcing our host awake with unruly noise." He looked at the desk in the other room, seemingly thinking over something.

"Well, now that you are up and fed, I suggest we tell Thorin we are ready to go." She went into the study and went to grab the contract.

"Wait a moment. I think we should leave this here." Savan pulled back after reaching out and sighed.

"How can you think that he will join us? And if he does what makes you think he'll last?"

"I have already argued this point with Thorin. Bilbo has more to offer than you might believe." He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Besides, he has you and the company to help him. I trust he will make it through the future hardships."

He made his way out of the hobbit hole and Savan followed after grabbing her things from the living room. She went up to Fergus and fed him one carrot and saved the other for later. Her weapons and her bag of furs and spare clothes were now secured onto Fergus' saddle.

Thorin looked around to see who was accounted for. He wasn't surprised to see that the hobbit was not among them and felt slightly glad for it. The hobbit was bound to be in the way and slow them down.

"Lets go. We need to make as much of the day light as we can." He mounted his pony and led the company onwards.

Savanna rode next Fili and Kili, she was considerably higher than the dwarves thanks to how large Fergus was. She felt a little out place and she knew she's be the obvious target out of them all simply because of how she stood above the others. At least she found some comfort in Gandalf also being higher up that the rest.

_Oh joy, my paranoia is setting in already._

The first half an hour went by in silence as no one was feeling up to talking.

"Wait! Wait!" A small voice sounded from around the bend they just passed. The company stopped in their tracks and some, including Savanna, let out a surprised gasp. There he was, little Bilbo with contract in hand running up to them. He stopped at Balin to hand him the contract.

"I've signed it!" His voice was excited and slightly out of breath from running.

"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield." The company cheered, all apart from Savanna and Thorin who did not look impressed at all.

"Give him a pony." Thorin demanded and turned back to the path.

"No, no, no, no that wont be necessary, thank you. I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once...WOAH!" Before he knew it he was plucked from the ground and dumped onto a spare pony.

Savanna decided to change her place in riding order and went near to the front of the line, not wanting to look at Bilbo. It wasn't out of hate, she was disappointed. She positioned herself next to Nori. After a couple minutes of chatter Oin suddenly cried out from the rear.

"Come on Nori, pay up! Go on."

Nori tossed back a small pouch of a few coins. The rest also started giving out the wins. Savanna could hear Bilbo asking Gandalf what it was about. She reached into her coat's inside pocket to grab a small pouch of coins and threw it to the wizard. She heard him remark to the Hobbit after he caught it that he didn't doubt him. Savanna was pleased to see that Thorin had to toss over a pouch as he also lost.

"Stop! Stop! We have to turn around." Again the company came to a halt.

_That's twice in just a few minutes he's stalled us. At this rate it's going to take over a year to get there._

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf questioned.

"I forgot my handkerchief."

"Here, use this!" Bofur had ripped some cloth from his coat and tossed it over to Bilbo. The hobbit looked at it, disgusted that he'd have to use a dirty rag.

"Move on." Thorin got the company moving again. Gandalf took the time to gently scold Bilbo.

"You'll have to manage without pocket-handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins, before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you; the world is ahead."

Dwalin rode up to Thorin to talk to him.

"The lass has a lot strength. My ribs are hurting from earlier." Thorin looked at him with a raised brow. It wasn't everyday the warrior complained about bruising from a fight.

"Is that so?"

"Oh aye. Kicks like an angry mare and swings that axe of hers with plenty of might. Glad it weren't a fight to the death, I fear she'd take my head clean off of my shoulders." Dwalin was complimenting her, a good sign to Thorin that she'd be no headache as far as looking after herself was concerned.

"She seems to fight like a dwarf." Thorin stated after a moments thought.

"Mhm, I had noticed that too. I think she likes to fight dirty too, did you see how quickly she decided to give me the boot? Her movements didn't seem to flow like that of man or elf. I can't help but wonder why." He looked Thorin in the eye and carried on talking.

"That lass is a bit of a mystery. Did you notice the other weapons she has on her?" Thorin didn't answer verbally and shook his head.

"She has dwarfish daggers, a dwarfish sword, shield and a dwarfish bow. Why would she carry so much and why are they all dwarven? The only non dwarfish weapon I've seen her with is that strange axe." Dwalin was confused and had been thinking about it since that morning. It bothered him.

"That is strange. We will have to get her to answer that later." Thorin replied. None of the two had noticed that Balin had caught up to them and was listening in.

"Perhaps we can get the lass to tell us her story if we share ours with her? If I may Thorin, might I tell a story tonight at camp? It may inspire the need to share her history with us." Balin interjected.

"Very well. It might also make her respect us more, along with the burglar." He thought about the night before, how she seemed to challenge him through out the night until they both had to sleep.

Balin nodded with the permission. He wasn't sure what story to tell yet, as there were many in a dwarf's life time.

They had travelled all day in the warm sunlight but it soon started to fade. Savanna knew this area well and decided to ride up to Thorin.

"I know a good resting spot up ahead. It wont be long until the night hits us." Thorin looked up at her from his much smaller pony. He had to admit that she looked like she belonged on the huge war horse. He then turned to Dwalin.

"Scout up ahead, see what area will do well for us."

"Aye." Dwalin gave a nod and went off ahead. Savanna scoffed,

_I know of a perfect place to stop and he gets one of his own to try and find different? Typical bone head!_

"I said I know of a spot, yet you ignore it in favour of needlessly sending someone off to find a clearing!" She was inwardly seething and tried not to show it, however her hard piercing glare was showing exactly what she felt.

"I am in command, Savanna, I say we do not put all of our eggs in one basket. We do things my way." He shot her a glare back.

"Do you forget so easy? I have lived here for over eleven years and yet you do not take my advice! Perhaps it's because I am a woman. Is that it Oakenshield?"

Thorin narrowed his eyes at her. True, there was the sexist part of him that refused to believe he could take her word without question.

"I'm exploring other options and you will address me properly!" His voice was more raised than it should have been but again her challenges irked him. Savanna snorted with disgust and fell back in the line, she didn't want to be around that arrogant dwarf any longer for the time being. Thorin looked back to the path ahead of him while he thought about punishing the woman,later, for her disrespectful attitude towards him and so far, only him.

It wasn't long before she saw Dwalin return by Thorin's side to direct them to a clearing he found. They had all arrived to the camp site before total darkness struck. Everyone went about to unload their ponies of their belongings. Savanna dragged out her bedding and set it in between the ponies and the fire. After eating and giving Fergus his last carrot, she sat there sulking for a couple hours, about how Dwalin had led them to the very clearing she had in mind.

_Stupid sodding dwarf. This is exactly were I was going to direct us. Bull headed, ignorant stubborn ass!_

Her sulking was cut short by an ork cry and she jumped to her feet with Rohdain in hand.

"What was that?" Bilbo asked alarmed standing next to his pony.

"Orks" She was the first to respond.

Thorin suddenly awoke from dozing when he heard orks being mentioned. Then another ork shriek filled the night.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them." Fili spoke and then Kili added to the statement.

"They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; no screams, just lots of blood." After Bilbo started to look around in panic, the two young brothers snickered.

"You think that's funny? You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?" Thorin stood from his spot and scolded his nephews. They instantly looked sorry for themselves.

"We didn't mean anything by it." Kili quietly spoke for the two of them.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." Thorin walked back to the cliff just a few feet from Savanna. Balin took this as the perfect opportunity for a story. He meant the story to be mostly for Savanna's sake but the younglings and the hobbit also needed to hear it.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first." He looked around the group and was pleased to see Savanna, stood there and was listening with interest.

"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."

The rest of the company were on their feet by now, all looking at Thorin with new found respect. Savanna stood there and looked a little ill.

_This ass hole is a king? Fuck me sideways...I really know how to step in it. This however does not mean I'll allow him to tread on me like filth under boot._

Bilbo stepped forwards to ask a question.

"The pale ork? What happened to him?"

"He slunk back to the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago."

Savanna and Gandalf shared a look. She then looked back to Thorin and practically whispered.

"Keep telling yourself that." This made Thorin snap his attention to her.

"What did you say?"

"I said, keep telling yourself that." She repeated herself but said it a little louder so he could hear.

Thorin's heart was suddenly pierced with the feeling of ice. He then took a few steps towards her and guided her by her arm past the ponies and into the line of trees, this way he knew he'd be more out of hearing range for the others. When he stopped he didn't let go of her arm and he faced her.

"Why do you say that?" He questioned her, his eyes searching her own.

"Because I have seen him only a few years ago. By the misty mountains. Haven't seen him since and It was a brief encounter from the shadows." Part of her regretted having to tell him this. She could see pain in his eyes as he tried to mask the terror he felt.

"I'm sorry to be the barer of bad news." He stood there in silence and his grip on her became very tight. Her bracers meant she didn't feel the pain from the squeeze but she could tell he was putting a lot of pressure onto it. Any thoughts he had about punishing her for this morning were gone now. She felt awkward for the next few moments they were stood there and become a little nervous.

"Is what you speak the truth?" He asked firmly.

"I am not known for telling lies. Yes, it is the absolute truth, I swear it on my life." Thorin slowly released her arm and nodded. The two made their way back to the rest of the company. No one spoke at that time and the rest of the night passed in a cold silence.

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><p>Don't be afraid to point out any spelling or grammatical errors. It doesn't matter how many times i re-read my work, there is always something.<p> 


	4. Shelter for the night

**Disclaimer- I own nothing from the world of "The Hobbit" or "The Lord Of The Rings" I only own my OCs.**

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><p>First came a gentle nudge, then a shake of the shoulder and after that, a firm tap to the face by the palm of a dwarf hand. Savanna's eyes snapped open and looked at the offender. She wasn't one for sleeping so heavily and was surprised to find herself being awakened like this. What surprised her more was the fact that it wasn't light just yet.<p>

"Rise and shine Miss Savanna." Kili's voice was excited but hushed as himself, Savanna and Fili were the only ones in the company awake. She sat up and narrowed one eye at the dark haired dwarf.

"What are you doing? There's still a good hour of sleep for us."

"Aye, that's point! I was hoping that you could show me-" Kili was cut off in mid speech.

"I already told you, I'm not ready to let someone else touch Rohdain."

"I know I know I know, I was thinking that instead of your beautiful axe, I could see your bow." He sat there with a fat grin when he saw her look of confusion.

"It's just a bow youngling, nothing special about it."

"Is that a yes?" She groaned irritably.

"Very well but I warn you, break it and I break you. Got that?" He nodded and stood up from his crouching position.

"I wont damaged it, I swear. Besides, didn't you just say it's nothing special?" Savanna also stood and frowned at him.

_Is he getting smart with me?_

"Listen, just because it's not an amazing bow it doesn't however, mean it's not special to me." She knelt down in front of her things and took out the bow.

"I do not have many arrows so I can't let you have target practice with it." She held out the black bow and he happily took it.

"It's dwarfish, as are your other weapons here. I'll use my arrows so I can shoot with it." He glanced down to her bundle of weapons as he stated the obvious.

"Very observant of you Kili. I suppose you can use it. Let's get a little further away from the camp before you wake everyone before we need to." Savanna went into the tree line and waited for her excitable tag along. As Kili went to his bag to collect a few arrows Fili pat him on the back.

"Was my idea a good one brother? I say it is!" The blonde grinned ear to ear.

"Aye brother, start with the lesser weapons and work up to the big one." He gave his sibling a wink before finding Savanna a little further in the tree line.

Once together he stood there and used what little light there was to focus on the bows carved details. He thumbed the patterns and pulled the string to test it.

"It's a beauty Savan. Where did you get it?" As he asked he held it up and pulled the string again as if he was using it.

"It is beautiful. As are most dwarfish things." She leaned her back against the nearest tree, folded her arms and brought up her right foot against the trunk. She smirked when she saw the shock on the young dwarf's face.

"Really? No human or any non dwarf would say that." He was quite taken back that a human might be so keen on their crafted items, items that didn't contain gold that is. She shrugged at him.

"It's true that I have a very...specific taste. I've always liked dwarves, not once in my life have I thought any different youngling."

As she was speaking he readied an arrow and fired it at a tree in front. This tree had a bulls eye carved into it, Savanna made a couple targets with one of her knives as she waited for him before. He did this a couple more times, all arrows near enough hitting the same mark. He seemed pleased with himself. Turning to face the taller woman he held out the bow and a couple arrows.

"Your turn." He was grinning widely again. A grin she will no doubt be seeing a thousand times over from the two brothers. She pushed away from her tree and took her weapon back, after readying the arrow she shot at a different target. She hit the target but was no where near the centre. Kili snorted from trying to hide a laugh. Savanna narrowed her left eye and looked at him.

"I didn't meant to interrupt you." He gave her an innocent look but then started to snicker when she turned back to the target. Her shot, just like the last, hit the target but not the bullseye. Now he laughed.

"My my, woman of the wilds your aim is off!"

"I never once said I was proficient with a bow." She lowered the weapon to her side. Kili continued to laugh. She turned to walk back to camp.

"And how do you hunt with such aim?"

Savanna stopped dead in her tracks, unseen to Kili she raised her right foot to reach for a blade that was strapped onto it. The young dwarf stopped laughing as a blade shot just above his head and was planted into the tree behind him.

"That, my dear youngling, is how I hunt. I can use a bow but my aim is far greater when throwing blades." She smirked at him.

"Now be a good boy and bring me my blade." To her surprised he actually pulled out the blade for her. As he took a few steps towards her he examined the blade and the details in the handle. After looking it over he handed back to her.

"Hm, this is dwarfish too. You know, you never did say were you got your dwarf weapons from." He smiled at her.

"And here I thought I managed to skip that question."

"Oh come now, it's not too much to ask is it?"

"No, no it isn't. My friends gave them to me and before you ask, yes they were dwarves." He tilted his head to one side.

"Were?"

"Yes, they're dead now. Which Is why I keep them and don't want them broken." She turned from him and started to walk.

"Let's get back before everyone stirs and wonder where we got to." Kili's smile went as she answered him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you Savan." He followed her.

"It's okay, I'm not upset. They've been gone long enough for me to accept it." He raised a brow at her back.

"If the question wasn't going to upset you, why try to avoid it?

"Because Kili, I didn't want to be flooded with questions after questions. I have have secrets yes, and that is how they will stay. You nor anyone else in the company need to know my personal details."

"We're happy to answer your questions and tell you our stories. Can't you return that?" His question sounded more serious than he had intended.

"Maybe one day if I am feeling generous."

The two made it back to the clearing and they could see that Thorin, Gloin, Nori and Dori were up. She took the time to place her bow back into her bag and blade back into her boot. A loud snort came from the ponies and she instantly knew it was Fergus waiting to receive her greeting. She went over to him with an apple in hand. The war horse took it gratefully and munched on it. She pat his snout but looked him in the eye with a serious look.

"Fergus, should we ever get separated on this quest, go back to Hobbiton. You will be looked after there and I will know where to find you. Understand?" She pulled back from him and he nodded.

"Good, hopefully it wont come to that." She turned around and sat on a log by her furs.

Dori was going around those who were awake to offer them tea. Savanna accepted the offer when he got to her. After he had done that he put the kettle on the ground and sat next to her.

"Did you sleep well last night Miss Savanna?" He asked with concern in his voice. She raised a brow at him unsure why he seemed concerned.

"I slept reasonably well thank you Dori and please, I would like it to be called Savan. Why do you ask?" He gave her a warm smile before responding.

"Your eyes, they look sleep deprived. I'll be feeling guilty if my snoring kept you up."

"No no, I can deal with snoring. There are some nights I have nightmares, some when i'm startled by danger and other nights were I simply don't sleep. You don't need to feel responsible for my lack of rest."

"All right then. Well, I hope the tea helps. May I suggest drinking some before you sleep. I know of a brew to help relax the body." He stood back up as almost everyone was awake and seeing to their own business.

"Thanks, I'll probably take you up on that offer."

After he nodded at her and walked off she sat there with her tea and slowly drank it. Tea wasn't something she was used to, she was accustomed to drinking water and every now and then she would go into a tavern and drink ale. Tea was a pleasant change, it tasted great and she enjoyed the feeling of the hot water flowing down into her stomach. She wished it was something she could have back at her home, the drink would be great for the winter nights and mornings.

Bilbo was the last to wake up and join in with breakfast. He avoided Savanna by sitting on the other side of the camp. He felt as though she didn't like him just as Thorin doesn't. He knew at some point he'd have to pluck up the courage to approach the tough and moody looking woman in order to speak with her. He knew there was a long journey a head of them and he didn't want to spend it feeling like a flea. Bilbo already felt like a parasite, it had only been one day and he knew his place. The disapproving looks on the two's faces when he caught up with them made him feel unwelcome. Not one of the two really spoke to him since the journey started. Despite all of that, he had hope. He had hope that they would get to know each other and maybe, just maybe, they could become friends.

"Lets go." Thorin ordered to everyone once breakfast had been dealt with.

Savanna secured her things and got onto Fergus. Her place was near the front of the line beside Fili and Kili as they rode behind Dwalin and Thorin. There was a little chatter this morning and she was grateful that the awkward silence from the night before had vanished. She glanced back to see who was talking to whom. Nori was talking to Gloin but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Gandalf was keeping Bilbo company again as he seemed to be the one the hobbit liked to be around most. Then there were the two young Durins, they were laughing to each other as though she wasn't there. Thankfully her aim with a bow wasn't the butt of their jokes, not all of their jokes atleast.

She took in a deep breath and looked at the sky. She squinted at the bright sky that was quickly clouding over. A few of the company looked at her questionably when she suddenly put up her hood. No more than five minutes later did heavy rain hit them. Savanna smiled at herself, she had the smarts to tell when it was going to rain unlike everyone else. She glanced behind her a few minutes later and her eyes fell on Bilbo. He looked extremely uncomfortable and was the least prepared for rain, he didn't even have a simple travelling cloak. She let out a frustrated sigh and fell back to be next to him. Bilbo looked dumbfounded when she was level with him and looked down to talk.

"Where is your coat Bilbo?"

"I um, I seem to have left it in my haste to catch up. Along with some other things I'm afraid."

"Be honest, you're cold aren't you?" Bilbo hesitated before answering her.

"I have to admit, I'm a little uncomfortable."

He gave her a nervous smile as she glared at him. Her piercing blue eyes made him feel even colder. He fully expected her to unleash some sort of verbal hell for not being prepared for the wild. What she did next took him by surprise completely. She took off her coat and handed it over to him.

"Oh no no no no, I can't take your coat Savan. You need it more." Part of him regretted declining her offer, especially when her eyes narrowed at him.

"This, Bilbo, are the conditions I am used to. I can run around naked and not be bothered by it. You on the other hand are used to heading indoors when it rains and sitting by the fireplace. Take my coat and wear it."

His face reddened with embarrassment. Of course she was used to this, he was stupid to think otherwise. He took the coat and put it on and instantly felt much better. The coat was heavy but it was warm. The coat was large in comparison to him, it stopped by his ankles and he was glad it didn't have sleeves, otherwise he wouldn't find his hands in the material. With the hood up he felt grateful for being less at the mercy of the heavy rain.

"Thank you Savan, It feels lovely. It's most appreciated." Again he smiled at her.

"It's nothing." She nodded and allowed Fergus to dictate where in the line they go next. Fergus went up near to the front again, apparently he had no desire to look at a bunch of pony rear ends. He snorted and Savanna took that as a sign he wanted a little more attention. She took some of his wet mane and began to braid it, this seemed to please him as the time and distance passed.

"You remind me of someone you know." Fili suddenly spoke up to Savanna.

"Oh? And who would that be?"

"Our mother. Her name is Dis. Hey brother, do you think Savan is like her?" He leaned forwards to look past her to see his sibling.

"Hmm, yes I can see why you say that." The two smiled at each other thinking of her.

"She has dark hair like yours, only it's straight and put into ornate braids. She has blue eyes too." Fili spoke back up.

"Plus she has a nice little beard that's braided too." Kili then mentioned. Savanna had to keep looking from one direction to the next as the two seemed to be taking it in turns to speak.

"So far from being with you I say you have her temperament too!"

"Not that we've seen you lose it but i'm sure we can guess what you will be like."

"Do you ever lose your temper Savan?"

"Well sometimes, it depen-" She was cut short by Fili.

"I can see you being just like mother when you do. Sharp tongue and stone fists!"

Up just in front of the three Dwalin quietly snorted with amusement and Thorin smirked behind his hair. He could count on his nephews to give someone ear ache. What made it amusing was the fact that they were comparing her to his sister. He could see what they were saying, she seemed much like her in several ways, however it was early days and she might prove to be nothing like Dis. While he sat on his pony and thought about it, they were still spouting questions and comparisons. Despite the fact that he enjoyed listening to her be overwhelmed he knew he had to calm things done and bring order.

"Fili, Kili, enough of your games. Concentrate on the path." He hid his amusement perfectly from his voice.

The day dragged out because of the rain. Everyone was wet, cold and tired from a whole day of riding in foul weather. Thorin was not surprised when Savanna pulled up to his side.

"Thorin, before you send Dwalin or any other member of your company off, I know of a good shelter to camp for the night. It's not too far from here. Not only will we be dry but the ponies will also benefit"

He grunted at her. Part of him wanted to ignore her suggestion but the rest of him was down right sick of the wet and cold.

"Very well. Take us there and we shall make camp."

Savanna looked at him with wide eyes, he just allowed her to tell him where to go. She looked away from him and back at the path.

_I wonder if he is finally coming to his senses._

She led them quite a ways away from the path, so much so that Thorin began to rethink letting her lead. He decided to give her another half an hour or so and in that time they soon saw a large bluff that had a large over hang and a grotto inside of it. It wasn't much longer before the ponies and horses were settled under the over hang and the company made camp in the grotto.

"Wow, this place is beautiful Savan." Ori announced as he stood beside her with his bed roll in hand.

"Yes it is, this is one of my favourite places in my outer territory. I come here bimonthly to enjoy it."

"Outer territory?"

"Yes I have a large roaming area. From my home it spans five days in each direction." Ori's mouth dropped. He was impressed that she had such a wide area. Gloin spoke up as he over heard.

"What do you need so much land for? Surely you don't own it."

"I don't own it no but I do live in it. I have such an amount of roaming land because it keeps me busy. You know, with fending off rogues, bandits and people trying to make a living out of the wilderness." Her answer made him raise a brow.

"So what you're saying is that you want to fight off competition. The more the merrier, right?"

"When you word it like that it makes me sound like a fiend. Plus I am no bandit or rogue with ill intensions." Savanna put down her bag and rolled out her furs onto the ground.

"I just make sure I can get by and reduce the chances of having my throat slit in the night." She sat down on her furs and took off her boots.

"All right then lass, everyone needs to make a living." He gave her a nod and turned to Bombur who was preparing the meals.

Ori placed his bed roll next to her, seemingly happy with being closer to the fire this time. Savanna's furs were next to one off the grotto's walls, she soon found herself with her back leaning against it and starting to doze. Every now and then the some of the company would look over to her as she would occasionally startle awake. Having been startled awake for the sixth time she decided that tonight was not the night for very light sleeping. She sat up straight against the wall and yawned. She glanced to her right and saw Ori eating away at a rabbit stew.

"Mm, smells good." Ori turned when he heard and then smiled at her.

"It is Miss Savanna. There's some waiting for you." He gestured over to the largest dwarf.

She pushed herself up from the wall after putting on her boots. Bombur looked to the figure walking over to him, he smiled at her and poured her a bowl.

"Smells good Bombur. Is it rabbit?"

"Mhm, Kili caught some for us as you slept." He held out the bowl and she took it.

"I'm really looking forwards to eating this. Thanks." She smiled at him before returning to her spot.

She sat there thinking over the mini nightmares she had just had while she ate her stew. Every now and then she'd take a large mouth full and close her eyes as she leant back against the wall. Her armour was getting a little uncomfortable after being soaked in it all day. She unbuckled all of her leather armour and sat there in her damp black clothes.

Before she knew it, she had put the bowl down and unintentionally started to doze again. It didn't last long as someone kicked her foot. Her eyes snapped open and she glared at the culprit.

"What was that for, Oakenshield?" Her aggravation laced in her speech. Thorin's eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"You will come with me, now." His voice was low but dangerous. Those who watched and heard knew there was a storm coming. Instinct told Savanna to grab Rohdain and she did with her right hand.

"You could ask nicely and I might." She never was one for being told what to do. Her life was hers and hers alone.

"You test my patience woman. Now get up!"

Before Savanna could so much as sneer at him, he grabbed her by the left arm and dragged her up. He dragged her down a narrow tunnel further into the cave until they came across a fairly large cavern. When there, he went close to a large rock jutting from the ground and whirled her around so that she slammed into it. Rohdain dropped to the floor when she hissed after her head made contact with the rock. The cavern was poorly lit which left Savanna struggling to see, Thorin could see a lot easier in the dark than she did as he was a dwarf.

"Last night I had every intention to punish you for your lack of respect. Unfortunately that was put on hold." He looked at her dead in the eye, his face was serious as he tensed up. His grip on her arm became painful.

"Now I will see to it that I do."

"You take a wolf from the wild and expect it to be tame in a day? I say you have no respect Oakenshield!" She hissed angrily at him when his grip became even harder.

"Who is it that allowed you to drag us through trees and bush to get here?! I gave you this chance to show your local knowledge, and you dare, even now to disrespect my command!"

"Oh ho, I'm sure the wind and rain had nothing what so ever to do with you choosing to do that." Her brows were knit together, showing him exactly how angry she was getting.

Savanna expected a verbal showdown from him but instead he took her by surprise, he pulled on her arm to drag her down a few inches to his level. Then with his free hand he slapped her across the face with force. The cavern echoed with the contact of his wide palm and her face. She stood there stunned, the left side of her face stinging and red. Thorin let go of her arm and she gently touched her face.

"I take no joy in hitting woman even woman from the race of men. Do not make me do it again Savanna."

He turned and walked back down the narrow passage way, he had meant what he said about striking a female but in her case it needed to be done. Part of him felt awful for it but the rest of him knew she would probably start something another time. He just hoped that it didn't lead to a huge fight between them that will cause a permanent rift. There were many days a travelling to do together and it would be a pity to spend it at each others throats.

She stood there still and not once did she glance back to the dwarf. While she may have expected harsh words and maybe even a fist fight, she did not expect to be struck like that. His palm left her face throbbing in pain and she could feel it wanting to swell slightly. In the dark she simply stood until a humming came from Rohdain. Without thinking she stretched down and picked up her weapon and headed deeper into the cavern she knew so well.

Most of the company were asleep by now, all apart from Dori, Bilbo, Fili and Thorin. When Thorin had come back he was glad no one wanted to talk or joke about what they thought had gone on to do. He expected them all to know what he did and every one of them disliked the idea of doing such a thing to a woman. It was in their culture to look after and treasure their women as they were precious to them. A good dwarrowdam was hard to come by and so they were treated well and guarded like the most valuable of treasure. The thought of purposely harming a female in anyway was revolting to a good dwarf.

Thorin sat there waiting for her to return, while she did test his nerves, she was apart of his company now and he would only sleep if he knew all members were accounted for. Minutes ticked by and for all he knew it was hours later yet she still did not come back. He saw her sulking the previous night and had no real doubt that that was what she was doing now. However he wanted to rest and he couldn't.

"Fili." Thorin spoke quietly to the young dwarf next to him.

"Yes uncle?" The blonde dwarf was led on his back with his arms behind his head as a pillow.

"Seek out Savanna will you? She has had long enough to sulk."

"Okay, I'll bring her back." He stood from his bedroll and nodded at his uncle before starting for the dark narrow passage way.

"Fili hang on a moment." Fili stopped as Bilbo called for his attention. The hobbit jumped up with a large coat in hand.

"This is hers, she's probably freezing in there without it. Would do her good to have it back." He held it out for the dwarf to take.

"Aye, she has probably frozen solid in there!" He tried to make light of the situation but Bilbo only gave him a horrified expression.

"Ahem, i'm sure she's not actually frozen Bilbo. Thanks." He took the coat from Bilbo and the hobbit then sat back down.

Fili had spent several minutes looking around, he had found the larger cavern but she was no where to be seen. It wasn't until several more minutes of squinting around did he find another narrow passage way. This one seemed to go in deeper to the rock but then it started to turn upwards and back on itself. He soon found the passage way to get brighter as blue moonlight came in through cracks, that got more open the further he climbed. He felt the cold wind bite at his face when he climbed out of the crawl space.

Fili realised that he was now on top of the Grotto and up ahead he could see the silhouette of Savanna sat a fair distance away. He squinted as he got closer and noticed that her axe was giving off a strange glow. At first he assumed it to be the light of the moon bouncing off of it but as he got closer he was shocked to see small wispy tendrils that looked as though they were made from a white, purple and blue light. He stood still, trying to be as silent as he could, he could see the glowing and the strange magic tendrils emanate from the large stone that sat just under the blades.

He had been there for a couple of minutes, he was seemingly mesmerise by what he saw however he managed to snap himself out from it and got closer. When he got to about five large paces from her the axe stopped glowing causing Savanna to turn and look over her shoulder.

"Hello Fili, why are you up here?" Her voice sounded tiered and quiet.

"I could ask you the same Savan." Fili walked up to her and noticed she shivered.

"You look like you're freezing up here. Here, Bilbo has dried this out for you." He held out the coat and she took it. The warmth made her relax instantly.

"Thanks. Well I suppose we had better go back then?" She grabbed Rohdain and stood, a sudden breeze making her coat flap excitedly.

Fill stood at the edge of the rock and could hear the ponies under them.

"Would you have come out here if it were raining too?" He turned and asked her.

"Honestly, no. I didn't want to come without my coat as it was but I thought Bilbo still needed it."

"That's very selfless of you."

"Hmph, I'm not a selfish bitch you know." Fili raised his hands in self defence.

"I never said you were, you might even find I said the opposite!" He grinned at her and put his arms back down again.

"Let's just get back." Savanna hopped to the side of the rock that was to her right and she began to climb down with Rohdain in hand.

Typically climbing would be difficult with a hand being used for an average sized weapon but she made it look easy. It was clear to Fili that she is used to difficult and clumsy climbing. Fili followed her and they found themselves now with the ponies under the over hang. Fergus looked up from his sleep when he heard the thump of the two landing on the thin grass, he gave out a quiet huff and led his head back down. Before Savanna could take another step Fili planted a hand onto her shoulder.

"Your axe...i saw it. I saw it glow." He looked her in the eye, he didn't ask the questions verbally as she read them clear on his face.

"Oh, you did? A lucky peek master dwarf." She clenched her jaw, now was much too soon to tell them the truth. Maybe a half truth will get her out of her predicament.

"If you must know, it is enchanted and needs the energy of the moonlight. That's all I can tell you. Please, let me sleep."

She didn't wait for his response, his hand slid off of her as she walked away into the grotto's entrance. The warm glow of the fire more clear now, she walked over to her spot and got comfortable. Thorin kept his watchful eye on her when she came into view. It took him by surprise to see the her and Fili come back from the front rather than the rear. Dori stood up with the kettle and a cup, he made his way over to Savanna now that she was sat on her furs taking off her boots.

"Excuse me Savan but I remembered earlier about getting you to try some tea before rest. If I may, it looks like you need a little assistance from it." His caring smile was genuine and he poured out the flavoured water into the cup.

"Ah, yes. Yes I remember that." She took the cup once he handed it to her. The steam warmed her cold face and the scent alone made her relax.

"I also noticed you earlier trying to sleep, looked like nightmares kept waking you. I picked out a blend that will help against nightmares. It's no magic like that of a wizard but I believe tea can do wonders." She gave him a smile, thankful that he actually cared for someone who was still a stranger but she was also a little embarrassed to have been seen like that.

"Thank you Dori, you are too nice to me." She winked at him and he nodded in return. The kettle was soon back by the fire and first watch back on his post.

Savanna had finished her tea and soon found herself getting more and more sleepy. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed for the night was Fili whispering something into Thorin's ear.

"Is that so? Tomorrow on the road we will push her for real answers." Thorin's voice was quiet so only his nephew could hear.

He pulled away from Fili and looked at the woman opposite him. To him she was a vault of secrets and he doubted that unless he forced the questions, she would never tell them by choice. Until he knows her secrets, she stands no chance of getting more trust from him and hopefully the others too. Once he heard Fili softly snoring next to him he allowed himself to slip into a slumber.

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><p>I hope you enjoyed this chapter, hopefully there aren't any mistakes that i missed. Unfortunately the next update will be quite a wait. Sorry. Thanks for the reviews ;p i have read them and taken note.<p> 


	5. Through the rain

Holy frick you guys, i'm really sorry about the lack of updates for, oh i don't know, FOUR FREAKING MONTHS! Yeah that's bad business on my part. Life as an adult is busy and time is taken up with work, house work, commissions , pets, friends and other things. Writing isn't high on my priorities list and so it got left way behind. Though on my last chapter i DID leave a warning that the next update would be quite some ways away. The next bunch of chapters should be uploaded much more regularly.

I also want to make it clear that i'm trying to weave my OCs, the book and the film all together to make something a little different for you to read.

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><p>Thorin was typically the first one to wake in the mornings but this morning was different, a frown etched itself onto his face when he spotted the empty space between Ori and Gloin. Thorin sat up and scanned the camp space. The only other person that was awake was Nori, the dwarf in question gave a nod to the king when their eyes met. As if the dagger wielding dwarf knew what the other was thinking, he took the pipe out of his mouth and spoke.<p>

"She's just outside. Tending to natures call, as she put it. Went out a good ten minutes ago or so."

Thorin gave a small nod in thanks before turning to leave the natural shelter. Ten minutes was more than ample time to see to those kind of needs.

Savanna stood in between two large trees and surrounded by foliage, she stood unmoving and stared at a mound on the ground. Her hands were in tight fists, her gloveless fingers dug into her palms. So much ran through her mind at that moment she could do nothing other than stand and seethe. Her anger was boiling through her blood, last night was it for her. Though she had shown coldness towards those that didn't believe in her ability to fight and survive, she had always been polite and not been vulgar about it. From here on out it would be different, last night's episode with Thorin had snapped the thread of restraint in her mind that kept her from loosing temper. Had she not dwelt on that moment and the other horrors of her past all at the same time, she would continue to try and not be a flat out bitch. She vowed from this morning onwards no one will tread on her like that again, for her will power was too strong to be trampled on like an ugly weed. Her mood was so sour she had to fight against her eyes filling with tears for she was a woman that rarely cried. Too strong and proud was she that even the years of living all alone and away from everyone she refused to shed tears, refused to be just another weak female who couldn't control her sadness. It didn't matter that she was all alone and no one would even know that she may weep, she would know and that was bad enough.

Thorin found her about a minute after leaving the grotto. He didn't interrupt her when he spotted her in between the trees and shrubs and instead he just stood there and took a moment to study her. He noted her body language and how everything about it screamed danger, it was the way she bore holes into the tiny mound with her eyes and the way her rigid body shook every so slightly. The trembling, he noted, was mostly coming from her arms that ended in her solid fists. He thought to himself that it was silly of her to hold onto something so petty like a slap. To him it was typical of woman to make something out of nothing. Deciding that time was precious and standing around in silence was wasting it.

So deep in her own thoughts she had not heard his heavy footsteps get closer or the first words he spoke. It wasn't until he barked her name did she snap out of the fervent daze.

"Savanna! Snap out of it woman." He was right behind her and left her little time to reply before speaking back up.

"Before we make a start for the day you will answer some questions."

Her eyes snapped to him, her usual cool grey eyes seemed a much brighter shade of silvery blue. The sharp look in her eye inwardly unsettled Thorin. Her eyes seemed as cold and sharp as a deadly blade made from mithril and they were pointed right at him as though to cut through his very core.

"Then you should be careful what you ask because I am done being pleasant to you! The answers may be more honest than you would like, dwarf!" Every word was practically spat out as if they were poison on her tongue.

Her response genuinely took him by surprise. He had not expected that answer with that attitude, he was sure she would be more subdued that morning after how chastened she seemed last night. He quickly shook himself free of his brief stunned state.

"You forget who you speak to. I am king and you shall address me as such!" His voice was raised higher than normal but he still didn't shout. No response came from her verbally, instead of talking she snarled slightly and kept her hard gaze on him.

"Last night Fili informed me of something unusual that he saw. What is that weapon of yours?" He stood tall and gave her a hard look that matched her own.

"Are you blind? It is an axe! Are all of your questions this stupid?!" Again she lashed out at him with her venomous tongue.

Thorin was completely abashed by her response. Never in all of his days had anyone had the nerve, the audacity to talk to him like that. He was glad that the rest of the company were still in the shelter of the grotto so they wouldn't witness it, he wouldn't stand it if they could see his shocked expression.

Little did he know that Nori was done with his shift and came out for some fresh air, from the shadows the rogue dwarf was listening in on them and kept quiet as he too was in shock from her words. Thorin again found himself having to shake out of a daze.

"How dare you speak to me like that! I am king and I have allowed you into the company when I did not want another follower, least of all a female, a female human at that. Now give me the answers I need before I abandon you from my quest." His hands were now in fists, rage wasn't what he had been expecting to feel first thing in the morning.

"Yes yes you're a king, I get it." Savanna took in a sharp breath to settle herself down as her head started to throb painfully. Thorin was about to interrupt and snap at her but she continued before he could open his mouth.

"Rohdain is an axe, a custom axe forged just for me by my friends. Before you ask, no, they are not around." While he got an answer of sorts her attitude still irked him, even though he could see that she was trying to suddenly rein it in.

"Explain what it is that Fili saw." He demanded to hear it from the horses mouth as he was unsure if his oldest nephew had exaggerated in anyway. She didn't reply right away as she had started taking in larger breaths of cool morning air to help ease her brain.

"As I told Fili, Rohdain is enchanted. The enchantments helps a little in fights but that's it. The sou- the runes need the moon's energy to work." Thorin didn't catch her minor slip up and seemed satisfied with the explanation she gave. He hummed to himself to show his aggravation.

"Return to the cave and collect your things, we leave shortly."

He watched her stalk past him, he could easily see that she was still in a foul mood but he was silently thankful that she had decided to stop being as vile as she had been at the start. Still unimpressed with said poor attitude, he would see to it that none of the company would talk to her for a couple of days and that she didn't get as much food. Perhaps this punishment would be more hard-hitting than the previous one.

Having heard the end of their conversation, Nori went back to what it was that he came out to do. He left to search for berries and small edible flowers to stash away. He always had a pouch that had some small food items to nibble on during travel. In this sense he was like minded to Savanna as she too made sure she wouldn't go completely hungry through the day.

Savanna found herself by her furs and began to pack them away harshly, she was beyond ticked off but her head was swimming in pain. There was no way that she'd continue to fight against him today, being alone made her get used to not being around conflict constantly. She stumbled with the last of the fur and had to let it fall back to the ground in a heap, the pain behind her eyes became so strong all she could do was slump against the wall and squeeze the bridge of her nose. Her fore head and eyes were emitting so much heat that she could barely hold a thought together. What made her release her grip was the wet feeling running from her nose and over her lips.

By now all the dwarves were up and seeing to their own packs however Bofur gave her a quick glance and a look of concern washed over his features. He quickly got up and went over to her, Ori looked up as the other approached and spotted why.

"Miss Savan?" Ori gently placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it away.

"You all right there lass? Your nose is bleeding." He crouched next to her then neatly folded the fur and tucked it into her bag, still looking up every few seconds to see her face.

"I'm fine. It's just a headache. Thanks." She wiped her face with her arm which only resulted in smearing the blood across her cheek.

Ori, wanting to help, grabbed a rag from his bag and wet it using his water skin.

"Here, use this. You can keep it if you want." He shyly held it out in the fear she would slap his hand away. She looked to his offering and accepted it, with a couple quick wipes the smear was gone however her nose still dripped a little. Bofur smiled at her in hopes she would get better quickly.

"Thank you." The youngest dwarf gave her a kind smile before turning to the entrance of the grotto when he heard two sets of footsteps enter.

Sure enough Thorin and Nori walked in side by side. Nori went to his bed roll and started his packing. Thorin went to his spot and looked over to the human female. He didn't like that both Ori and Bofur had stopped getting ready and were hanging around her. The two soon got the message when they noticed his fierce glare that was aimed at them.

It took a couple minutes for her bleeding to stop but she was relieved that it had happened as it eased the pressure in her skull. Had it not of happened she knew should would have had a monumental migraine which, in turn, would lead to partial blindness and violent sickness.

The landscape around them was glowing in an orange light as the sun made itself known to them. Not that any of the company really paid any attention to the beauty of it as they all jostled around their mounts to set off. Fergus and Savanna were the first that were ready to go and so they waited ahead of the rest of them. It took several more minutes of waiting until Thorin rode up to them and gave her a hard look.

"Get us back on track."

She refused to look at him as she set Fergus in motion. Savanna didn't take them back down the route they used last night and instead took short cuts to get to the general path. It was roughly two hours later when they were making head way and Balin and Gandalf were on the route they knew.

By this time Savanna had made Fergus drop to the rear of the pack. Every now and then he would fling his head around and snort with aggravation that he had to be stuck behind a load of ponies but she held him to their current speed. She was feeling sick from that morning, not from what was said to her but the fact that she had experienced so many raw and painful emotions at once that it made her head spin. If staying at the back and not talking to anybody meant avoiding that dreaded migraine, then so be it.

Up at front Thorin looked over his shoulder to see if everyone was behaving themselves, he took note that their wild woman wasn't in her typical spot in the company. He was pleased to see she was at the back and not engaging in conversation with anyone. Looking back ahead of him he knew today would be a better day.

Another two hours on the track and it was time for a quick break. The company were soon settled down in a small gathering and engaged in a lot of chat while they started into chunks of bread. Fili and Kili sat themselves down next to Savan in hopes to bombard her with plenty of questions. Questions about why her weapons were dwarfish, why she lived alone and why she never went back to civilization to find a husband and live an easier life. As soon as Fili opened his mouth to blurt something out he was instantly shut up by his uncle who gave him a blazing hot glare. The blonde nervously fidgeted before finding it wiser for the two of them to sit elsewhere.

Gandalf was no ones fool, he knew what Thorin was up to and it displeased him greatly. It soured his mood more so when Savanna was given a tiny piece of bread in comparison to the others. He would speak to that insufferable dwarf as soon as they were riding again. He was pleased that the others wanted to talk to her when they thought their leader wasn't looking at them but said dwarf had keen ears, a hard look was all it took for them to go back to not talking to her. Bilbo on the other hand, knowing what it's like to feel out of place tried to talk to her.

"Are you all right Savan?" His question was almost a whisper as he didn't want to draw too much attention to them.

"My head is swimming but other than that I'm okay."

For the first time since they departed, she gave him a friendly smile. It wasn't a huge smile, it was more like a twitch to the sides of her mouth but Bilbo noticed it and returned it all the same. Something twinged inside of her chest at that moment, that twinge being the start of guilt. The guilt she now felt because she cursed the unfortunate hobbit for coming with them, cursed him for being weak and unable to survive the cruel outside world but despite that, he was there ignoring Thorin's silent demands to shut up. He was the one that made the effort to at least try and speak to her.

"Here. I noticed you didn't get much so I pinched a little off of mine to make up for it. I think a little more food in your belly might help your head too." He held out a chunk of bread when he knew their leader wasn't glaring at them.

Savanna was stunned by the kindness. How could he be this kind when she had openly given him looks of distrust.

"I...I thank you Bilbo." Slowly she reached out and took the bread, it was a modest amount but she was thankful none the less.

She sat again in silence after eating the extra bread, she didn't know if Thorin saw but in all honesty she couldn't care less. In fact, when Thorin tried to glare the hobbit out of going to her, and failed, he stopped looking in that direction altogether. He wanted to stop thinking about her, how arrogant he thought her to be and how stubborn she was. There was much to think about for the quest. He gave himself and the others little time to think as he tapped out the used contents of his pipe onto the ground by his foot.

"The time for rest is over. Mount up everyone."

Everyone did as they were told and got back onto their mounts. It wasn't long before they all set off in single file but then buddying up when they were further along. This time around Savanna didn't allow herself to be at the rear as her head had eased off after food and water. Bilbo was surprised when he looked over his shoulder and the dark haired wild woman approach himself and Gandalf. The wizard raised a brow at her as she took off her coat and held it out for Bilbo to take.

"It's going to rain again soon and less you want to be a sodden hobbit, I suggest you take it."

She bounced her arm up and down to establish that she was on about her coat just in case she wasn't clear enough. Bilbo was a little unsure as her 'friendly gesture' seemed more like a demand. It wasn't until she gave him the smallest of smiles before he took the heavy garment from her.

"Thank you Savan but I don't want to leave you to get wet again." He was still holding the coat at arms length so she could take it back.

"I appreciate your concern but as I have already stated, I can handle the wind and rain."

She tilted her head at him, like a kitten waiting to be scratched under it's chin, then gave him a lopsided grin.

"If it helps you to feel a little less guilty about it you could call this a... a thank you gesture, for the bread."

Gandalf looked off to the other side so she wouldn't catch his surprised expression. He knew she gave the coat away before but that was out of frustration that Bilbo had brought to her. This time was different, while there was still that element of the hobbit being unprepared, she did it this time as a genuine act of kindness to some one she had previously not thought much of. He turned back to face forwards again when he was sure the shock went from his face.

"Thank you, I can accept that."

He answered her with a smile and drew back his arm. Once again he felt the warmth and the weight of her huge fur lined coat envelope him. Not five minutes after the exchange did it began to drizzle, then rain and finally it began to pour down. The dwarves soon started to complain about the weather but the three non dwarfish folk rode on in silence and all three finding it a little amusing that the rain would cause such commotion.

"That's twice now that I'll be soaked through." Fili mumbled from just behind Savanna.

"Get used to it youngling, there are more days of it yet to come." She spoke over her shoulder.

"Here, Mister Gandalf, isn't there something you can do about this deluge?" Dori exclaimed from in front of them.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo butted in with his own question.

"Any what?"

"Other wizards?"

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; you know, I've quite forgotten their names." Savanna scoffed at his reply. He turned to her with a brow raised as he was unsure what she found funny.

"And what, my dear, is funny about that?"

"Surely a great wizard such as yourself would remember something as simple as the names of his kin, aye?"

"hm w...well I haven't been in contact with them in many years."

"Mhm." Savanna looked back towards the road with a smirk.

Bilbo coughed to regain Gandalf's attention.

"And who's the fifth?"

"Well, that would be Radagast, the brown."

"Is he a great wizard or is he...more like you?"

Gandalf looked to the hobbit with a faint trace of being offended.

Savanna made out to cough into her hand to hide the surprised gasp that escaped her the second he said it. Never did she think that the hobbit would have the brass to be rude- especially when it came to Gandalf.

"I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the east, and a good thing too, for evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

Savanna paid no more attention to the conversations of others as the heavens opened up even more, the once refreshing downpour soon became too heavy for even her comfort. She found herself needing to face down as the rain came down so hard and cold it actually hurt. The company soon began with more outcries and curses aimed at the weather. The ponies had slowed to a crawl, even Fergus slowed to a snail's pace.

"There's an overhang just ahead of us, we can all fit under it until the rain lets up." Thorin's voice was almost drowned out by the sound of rain hitting the ground at force.

There wasn't much room to spare under the small shelter, it was a tight fit for the whole of the company and their mounts. Savanna found herself wedged in between Bilbo and Dwalin.

"I can't say i've been this...cosy in years!" She squirmed with discomfort, sharing a living space was one thing but this was out right personal space invasion.

Luck seemed to come through for her as there was finally a break in the bad weather. Savanna was unsure if this break would last for minutes or hours. They waited under the shelter for a further ten minutes and everyone was happy when their king decided it was good enough to get back to business.

A couple more hours of riding and the woman of the wilds suddenly became tense and held her breath as if she had just remembered something vital. The two that noticed were Bilbo and Ori, they looked at her concerned once she let out a shaky breath.

"Bilbo, give me my coat." Her demand startled the poor hobbit and he began to fumble with the golden buttons to try and remove the heavy thing.

"I, uh, yes, yes of course. Thank you for-" Without letting him so much as finish talking she snatched the coat from him as soon as he went to hold it out. The force was almost enough to rip him from his saddle.

"Yes I know."

Bilbo was taken back with her short and sharp reply. This woman was truly as confusing as they came; one moment she would start to be nice but then she would revert back to nasty within seconds. She put on a her garment and proceeded to make Fergus go into a canter to reach Gandalf as he had made his way up the travel line. The large horse slowed back down when his snout was level with that of Ganalf's smaller horse.

"Does he know what's up ahead?" Her tone was serious with her need of reassurance.

"I believe so my dear." He paused and hummed to himself thoughtfully.

"Then again, a little reminder wont hurt."

That was all she needed to hear before storming off up front to catch up to the unpleasant dwarf.

Thorin glanced behind and let out an aggravated groan upon seeing Savanna ride up to him.

"Thorin, you realise what we will soon encounter, aye?"

He glared at her once she had finished her question as he wasn't entirely sure what she meant.

"What are you on about woman?"

"The river. We are soon approaching it and we must take great care in crossing it."

"Indeed, there is also a stone bridge if my memory serves me correctly. As this is your so called 'territory' I'm surprised you forget such details."

Savanna's face scrunched up with irritation.

"I know full bloody well about the bridge." She then replaced her irritated expression with a false smile.

"I just wanted to make sure that you have taken the rain we've had recently into consideration. For all you know the river could be twice its normal size and the bridge swamped. But alas, how should I know? I forget such details."

"Keep your sarcasm to yourself Savanna. It is the lowest form of wit!"

"Then perhaps you should take me more seriously. You will find this journey a lot nicer if you do; my statement about the bridge still stands, we will need to be careful when we cross. This river swells faster than you might think and it flows with much greater force."

"Duly noted."

Thorin looked ahead pointedly to end the chatter before she could get in another word. She took the hint with a snarl and slowed back down to travel with Bilbo. The hobbit glanced at her, worried that she would snap at him again for some unknown reason.

"I warn you Bilbo, the next section of travel will not be easy. You will end up getting very wet and if you do not concentrate and follow my lead you will be washed away like a small pebble. You understand?"

She cast him a look to make sure his was listening; and listening he certainly was.

"Oh yes of course. Though I'm not altogether sure what you mean with being 'washed away'."

"The river we will be reaching not long from now, typically it would be no problem but with this rain it is sure to have burst its banks. The bridge has a habit of getting cut off when the river does so. So long as we travel in a single line we should be all right. Though I am concerned that those ponies of yours are not strong enough not to fall to the power of the water."

"Oh...oh I see. Well, I'm sure we'll be fine. We do after all have you to guide us."

Savanna's checks flushed ever so slightly at the compliment. Such praise was something she was not accustomed to. She bobbed her head in thanks and looked ahead to the track. They were getting close and she knew instantly that the river had indeed flooded as she could hear it's powerful roar before she could see it.

Shortly after they all came to a stop and assessed the situation. Much to Thorin's irritation, Savanna had been correct and that meant he may need to listen to her a little more in the future. He turned his pony so he could see all of the company and address them all.

"The bridge stands cut off to us, we will travel in single file to cross over. Savanna shall go first as she knows what lays under the river." He looked directly at her as a sign to get moving.

"Thorin, I will stay by the bridge once I have shown you the best route through the flood. I'll make sure those at the rear make it in safety."

Much to her surprise the dwarf king gave no argument against her suggestion and allowed her to continue onward as planned. Savanna and Fergus made their way safely to the foot of the bridge, thanks to the size of Fergus the water only came up near to the top of his upper legs and so the force of the water was easy to fight. The dwarves and their ponies were a different matter, they had to keep moving in order not to struggle longer than needed. Savanna did as she said she would, after showing Thorin the way across the other side of the bridge for him and the others to miss the steep banks, she went back to the edge of the water to await the few at back. Bilbo got across with the aid of Gandalf and a rope that connected their mounts.

Those that had gotten across carried on along the track, confident that they all got across in one piece. Fili and Kili were the last to make for the other side, Kili went first and his brother followed closely behind. All seemed to be going well as far as the Savanna could see, the rest had made it and continued on with the journey; and the last two were over the bridge and making their way over to her.

Suddenly Fili's pony slipped on the edge of the unseen bank and briefly vanished from view taking the blonde prince with it. Kili spun his own pony around at hearing the distress from behind.

"FILI!"

Both Kili and Savanna cried out when they lost sight of him. She immediately leapt off of Fergus, grabbed her rope from the saddle and made off to the nearest tree to loop it around the trunk. Fergus followed and she put one end of the old hemp rope into his mouth.

"Hold Fergus. Hold."

The warhorse did as instructed and clamped his mouth shut around the end of the rope. Savanna dashed back to the scene of the action only to find that Kili's pony was on dry land without him. A quick look into the river and she could see the two dwarves struggling to keep each other's head's above water, in the time she had gone over to the tree the two had started to get washed away. Without hesitation Savanna jumped into the raging river with the rope firmly in hand, forcing herself not to fall to the power of the water, she made it to the nearest dwarf and grabbed his arm.

"Kili, use the rope! Get back to dry land and i'll get Fili!" She had to shout over the thunderous roar of the river.

"But Fili!"

"I SAID GO!"

Kili reluctantly grabbed onto the rope and slowly began to haul himself to safety. Even with the added help from her old tatty rope poor Kili was still fighting for breath. His adrenaline boosted his dwarfish strength and he managed to get back to shore only half drowned, as soon as he was on hands and knees he cleared his throat of dirty river water.

Up the trail Oin and Gloin were at the rear of the main group, their pace was slow as to make sure that those behind wouldn't lag too far from them; it was just as well that they did so. The two stopped upon hearing Kili shouting for help behind them. The pair looked at each other in shock when they saw the sorry state of the youngest prince.

Savanna was holding on to Fili with a fierce grip, there was little else she could do with an unconscious dwarf in her arms while keeping hold onto the rope so they didn't both get washed away like spiders in the rain. It wasn't often she feared for her own life but at this very moment she believed that she would drown and accidentally take Fili with her. Savanna couldn't yell to Fergus to get him to back up, the water was constantly rushing of her head.

To Savanna it had felt like an eternity had passed since she had gotten into this situation, in reality it was only a minute. All thoughts of drowning immediately dissipated when she felt harsh tugging on the rope; it was Oin and Gloin fighting to bring them to the safety of solid ground.

As she got nearer she could feel with her feet the steep bank, giving out one last burst of strength she leapt up out of the deep. Fili was quickly, but gently, put to the ground. She hovered over him to watch his breathing; and breathing he wasn't. His just laid still, void of signs of life.

"Fili! Fili, brother!"

Kili was in a complete state of panic, seeing his older brother in such a poor state disturbed him immensely. Gloin grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him away.

"Give them some space!" Gloin understood the worry but he knew he couldn't have him hovering around so close.

Oin was making ready some rags and medical alcohol to see to the potential wounds. The rest of the company made it back down, all of them worried but none more so than Thorin. He leapt down from his pony and rushed over to Savanna and Fili.

"Fili!? Fili! Answer me!" He hooked one of his arms behind Fili's shoulders and tried to shake him awake but there was still no response.

"Gandalf he isn't breathing. Do something!" He gave the wizard a pleading look with his command. Gandalf fidgeted and looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry Thorin but I can not use magic to clear his lungs."

"Thorin, put him back on the ground. Quickly!"

Savanna's order was met without question by the king. There was only one thing she could think of, something that had saved her life many years ago. She didn't know exactly what she was doing but she knew enough to give it an attempt in desperation.

She tilted Fili's head back gently and opened up his mouth, after seeing that it wasn't enough she squeezed his nose shut and took in a large breath. The next thing she did took everyone by surprise, she placed her lips around his and pumped air into him twice. She then moved down his body and pressed her hands quite heavily over his chest. The cycle of breathing and chest pumping was repeated twice more before Fili let out a violent choke that splattered water around himself and Savanna. He kept retching as the rest of the company let out a collective sigh of relief. Fili was holding onto Savanna like his life depended on it, the last thing he could remember was holding onto her and a huge torrent of water hitting him relentlessly.

"Fili it's okay. We're out and safe. Breathe, calm down." Savanna unconsciously held him close to her, much like a mother to a child, to comfort him.

Thorin just knelt there watching the two, relief washed over him when Fili began to breathe again. It was at that moment a strong pang of guilt, or even regret, struck him for being as cold as he was to her. He figured it was feelings of the moment as the sight of her protecting his family so closely moved him. They were practically strangers to each other yet she had put herself on the line for them.

Fili had steadied his breathing and calmed down considerably, Savanna slowly let go so Thorin and the others could speak to him. She moved away towards Fergus to tidy the rope but not before stopping to see Kili.

"Are you all right? That was pretty rough." She was genuinely worried and upset for the two and needed to make sure that they were ok.

"Yes, yes i'm as all right as I can be, giving all that has happened."

"That was a brave thing you did for your brother. I admire that."

"We're family. Family and friends do that for each other. Thank you, thank you for saving us. If it hadn't been for you Fili would have..." She placed a comforting hand onto his shoulder.

"Don't fret. I'm not the bitch everyone thinks I am. Now you can go over to your brother now that he's recovered, for the most part at least." She gave him a pat on the back and made way to her horse.

It wasn't long before they were back to riding, Fili was sat on the back of Fergus as there was much more space on him to share a ride than the other ponies. His ride on the warhorse didn't last for too long as they found his own pony further down the river. It was a miracle that it hadn't drowned or broken any bones, all it needed was some tender love and care to be ready for riding. Sadly, it was the pony that carried most of the food supplies and those were well and truly gone.

The rest of the journey went on in complete silence. Fili felt guilty for loosing the food, Thorin felt guilty for not being there and Kili felt like he had been completely useless in that situation and only added to the problem. There rest of the company stayed in silence, all feeling very sober to how close they came to loosing the two youngest Durins. Savanna knew that Thorin would blame this on her, she was supposed to map out the path and make sure none went astray, yet under her watch, Fili went under and Kili soon followed.

None of them seemed to notice that the female member of the company had been at the rear and they all failed to notice when she slipped away on another path, all except for Gandalf that is. He missed the sight of her splitting away from them but he noticed her absence not long after. While he was bewildered to why she had done it, he was confident that she wasn't abandoning them for he knew she was a woman of pride and always kept to her promises.

Night was soon approaching and Thorin was looking for anywhere big enough for them all to stay, he soon spotted an open area that looked like it would do. It didn't look very accommodating as the burnt out rafters of an old farm house stood in the middle of the clearing but it would have to suffice for now. It was then that Gandalf realised why Savanna went her own way.

"We'll camp here for the night. Fili, Kili, look after the ponies. Make sure you stay with them."

"A farmer and his family used to live here." Gandalf gently touched a blackened beam, placing it in his memory.

"Oin, Gloin."

"Aye?"

"Get a fire going."

"Right you are." The two went off to set up their fire pit.

"I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the hidden Valley."

"I have told you already, I will not go near that place."

"Why not? The elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice."

"I do not need their advice."

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us."

"Help? A dragon attacks Erabor and what help came from the elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father."

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold onto the past."

"I did not know that they were yours to keep."

"Perhaps it would be smart of you to learn to trust and respect those that are here to guide you, Thorin."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Not only do you ignore my advice to move somewhere safer but you also belittle those who have differing opinions. Did you think I wouldn't notice the way you treated Savanna today? Did you think that I would be blind to it, to not see how you wanted no one to speak to her, for her to not get the equal amount of food as the others? Old and set in my ways I may be, but blind and ignorant is something I am not."

"She is the one with no respect."

"You fail to remember who she is, what her life is. She lives in the wilderness on her own, has done so for almost her whole life. No one has the right to demand respect from her."

"Yet you see it fit for her to insult me and not for me to retort?"

"If you want her respect you must earn it, not shout about your title as king. Such titles mean nothing to her. You also owe her the lives of your nephews."

Thorin didn't immediately reply and instead sighed with aggravation from the truth of Gandalf's words.

"We stay here for the night, I will not turn to the treacherous elves for help."

That was it, that was all Gandalf could stand of Thorin's bull headedness for that day. He stomped off to leave them. As he walked past he caught the attention of Bilbo.

"Everything all right? Gandalf, where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only two around here who's got any sense."

"Who's that?"

"myself and Savanna, Mr Baggins! I've had enough of dwarves for one day."

After Gandalf mentioned Savanna the whole of the company within ear shot began to look around for the woman, even Thorin, but she was nowhere to be seen. Gandalf continued to his horse and left them all behind. Worry flooded through the sorry hobbit's blood, he was panicked by the thought of being left alone with the dwarves and hoped to the heavens above that the two would soon come back.

Thorin broke the awkward silence.

"Come on, Bombur, we're hungry."

Bombur did as he was told. Though there wasn't a lot of food left, he thought of a way to make it all go around. The loss of two more mouths to feed really helped their food shortage.

Bilbo looked to Balin for some reassurance.

"Do you think they're coming back?"

Balin shrugged his shoulders, he was damned if he could figure the old wizard out. Balin wished he knew where their local scout had gotten to but it would be of no use to walk off alone and anger Thorin.

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><p>I was going to make this chapter a long one by combining it with the troll scene but this seemed like a good place to stop. A small update is better than no update.<p>

Don't worry, I will be explaining more of her past in the next few chapters to come. Hope you enjoyed it so far, thanks for reading.


	6. Back from hell

Re-write

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><p>Hi guys and girls. I have been away for over two years now. The long and short of it is, my life went to all hell. I'm on the path of recovery but that's all you need to know. I'm not the type of person that spills out their life story so I can defend myself as to why I've been gone for so long. The matter of fact is, I'm writing the story, I look back at it now and want to die from pure cringe. I think I can do better and thus I will be starting anew. The story itself wont change other than a few minor details but the way in which it is written will change. As the story is pretty much the same, it shouldn't take too long to bash out.<p>

Thanks for hearing me out. I offer you copious amounts of apologies.

~ Grumpy


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